Perfectly Balanced
by avengersashley
Summary: Perfectly Balanced… as all things should be. The war has ended, and Thanos has come out on top with all six infinity stones in his control. With the heroes scattered and hopes crushed, Earth remains defenseless. A continuation of the events after Infinity War, watch as our heroes fight to return the Earth back to what it was and bring back the ones they lost. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Before anything else, I'm going to say this again. This story is going to have a lot of spoilers in it, so if you haven't seen the movie, DO NOT READ THIS STORY! Read it after you finish.**

 **So anyway, I saw Infinity War on Thursday, and it certainly met my expectations. It was an insane movie, it was so great and so gut-wrenching at the same time. I can tell you right now this story is not necessarily going to have a happy ending. My feelings were all over the place during this movie, and I'm going to try and recreate that here.**

 **How this is going to work, there are going to be some flashbacks, and it is going through the ending scene of the movie. Then we are going to continue on, about how I think it should go. If you read any of my other stories, this is not going to be like missions that split up in multiple chapters, this is going to be pretty much one story.**

 **I'm pretty excited, and ready to cry a little too. I did that a lot during the movie. Oh yeah. As usual, please, by all means, review and tell me what you think, whether you loved it or hated it, but please don't swear, just like my other stories.**

 **DISCLAMIER: I do not own anything Marvel, Disney, Avengers realated, anything. I wish though.**

 **Alright, guys, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Pretty, isn't it?" The Mad Titan asked, voice so low it felt like a whisper. The young Gamora watched the small knife as it tilted back and forth on his large finger. She watched, half in wonder and the other half in utter terror as Thanos spoke to her.

"Perfectly balanced. As all things should be." Gamora flinched as his meaty hand rested on her shoulder, and she tried to hide it by keeping her eyes on the dagger.

"To much to one side, or the other."

The dagger twisted to the right, then the left, before slipping off his finger. With a grace that wouldn't seem possible for a creature of his size, he snatched the knife out of the air before it hit the ground.

"Here. You try." Gamora looked up into the purple face, her own face emotionless. She looked down at the knife hesitantly. She took it carefully, trying it out herself.

The red jewel in the middle stood out as she balanced it on her finger. It took her a couple of seconds, but the knife stayed. She almost smiled, but the Titan did.

"Good." A noise drew her attention, one of the men that had taken her away from her mother. He was shouting in the courtyard. All of the people were standing behind rows of guards. Her people. It was all silence for a moment.

The dagger tilted dangerously close to one side.

The sounds of a hundred guns being shot.

People screaming, crying calling out.

Her people.

Her mother.

Where was she?

Gamora turned her head, and the dagger slipped from her finger. She needed to find her mom.

"No, little one. Focus on the knife." Thanos gently turned her head before she saw anything, what he was doing. He placed the knife back on her finger, balancing once again.

Thanos smiled as Gamora balanced the knife on her finger once again. He didn't consider that she saw what he had done. They were dead. They were all dead.

Thanos stood up and placed a hand on her back. He gently guided her forward, away from the corpses of her people. A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she kept it hidden. Something told her that she would never be coming back again.

That same something told her never to drop the knife.

To be perfectly balanced.


	2. Chapter 2

**Holy crap this story is a huge hit! I'm so glad all of you like it so much! I'm going to make this brief, but here are reviews!**

 **TKOOIS: I know! The ending hurt so bad! I hope this fanfiction will help you with a little bit! ;)**

 **slythrnerd: I know, I can't believe we have to wait another year for it! Hopefully,y it goes by quickly!**

 **Guest: I'm not rewriting the entire movie, just the end scenes, then going from there. It's going to be really emotional, yes, even for me. I'm going to be like crying while writing this. I'm sorry to say but feelings are going to have a bumpy ride. ;)**

* * *

 _If things go wrong, if Thanos gets me, I want you to promise you'll kill me._

 _What?_

 _Swear to me. Swear to me on your mother._

 _Okay. Okay._

 _Peter._

 _Peter._

 _You promised!_

Gamora stood on the edge of the cliff face, with the man that called her daughter next to her. The unknown man floated in his black cloak behind them, arms folded behind his back. They looked over the edge, staring off into the endless abyss, where the soul stone was held.

"What you seek lies in front of you." The man spoke, his voice echoing across the empty planet. "As does what you fear."

"What's this?" Gamora asked, confused on what the deity-like man was saying.

He stayed floating in the air, eyes glued onto the mountains in front of him. "The price. Soul holds a special place among the Infinity Stones. You might say it has a certain," He twisted around and looked at Gamora. "Wisdom."

Thanos turned to the Red Skull and locked eyes with him. "Tell me what it needs," He demanded, willing to give up anything and everything to finish his mission.

"To ensure whoever possesses it, understands its power, the Stone demands a sacrifice."

Thanos turned back to the abyss, trying to look down into the very heart of the black. "Of what?" Red Skull pulled off his hood with ghostly red hands, his face appearing in the orange colored light.

"In order to take the Stone, you must lose that which you love. A soul, for a soul."

Gamora laughed and walked backward, away from the edge. She felt an abundance of joy.

"All my life, I dreamed of a day, a moment, when you got what you deserved. And I was always so disappointed." She laughed again, her hands waving excitedly at her hips.

'But, now… You kill, and torture, and you call it mercy. The Universe has judged you. You asked it for a prize and it told you, no. You failed. And do you want to know why? Because you love nothing. No one." She hissed at Thanos' turned back, throwing every insult she could ever think of at him.

She hesitated when he didn't answer. He just stood there, looking out over the abyss. Gamora took a step closer, and Thanos turned around, facing her.

He had tears in his eyes.

Gamora snorted, thinking it was a joke. "Tears? Really? You think-" She was going to continue, but the Red Skull cut her off with a look.

"There not for him."

Realization hit her like a truck, and she shook her head frantically. She stepped backward, trying to get away from the man she never called father.

"No. This isn't love." Gamora cried, but Thanos shook his head.

"I ignored my destiny once. I cannot do that again. Even for you." Thanos said, tears welling bigger and bigger. As much as it hurt him, he needed to do it. It was his destiny.

Stifling a sob, Gamora turned her back on the Mad Titan. In a flash, she whipped out the double-edged knife and stabbed her midsection, trying to take her own life. It was better than him getting what he wanted.

But it turned to bubbles. The bubbles floated away, along with every last one of her hopes that Thanos would lose.

"I'm sorry, little one." Thanos sobbed, grabbing Gamora's arm and dragging her towards the edge.

"No!" Gamora cried, digging her heels into the ground, trying to fight it. But he was too strong. With a tug of his heart, Thanos threw the girl he called daughter off the cliff. He watched her scream and fall, tears running down his cheek. When she hit, he could feel it, a pang in his chest.

But then it was done. He had gotten the soul stone. What he needed. But at what price? None of it mattered now. He set off to finish what he had started.

 _Goodbye, little one_.


	3. Chapter 3

_What did it cost?_

 _Everything._

* * *

Steve stared solemnly at the ground. His new Wakandan shields fit snugly on his wrists, but it wasn't familiar. He missed the feeling of his shield around his palm and forearm. It was torture to throw the shield that Howard Stark made for him in front of his son. Howard had talked about Tony non-stop, but Steve had never seen Howard show any real affection in front of him. Howard may have been a good father to the outside, but within? Well, he needed some work.

But Steve needed to stop thinking and ground himself. He dug his feet into the ground, feeling the connection between the dirt and sole of his boots. A slight breeze blew across the ground, leaves rustling, his grown-out hair brushing his face.

The fight had been rough. The Black Dwarf and Proxima Midnight had attacked the border, those, dog-creatures on their side. They had fought those off, and then they won. Then Thanos had shown up.

Thanos.

But Thor had got him. Right? But then he had disappeared. There was a snap, and he disappeared.

"Steve?" Bucky walked in from the edge of the woods. His gun was held up in the air, his human hand keeping it up there. But his focus was in a different place.

He stared at his arm, his newly mechanical arm given to him by the Prince of Wakanda. He maneuvered it through the arm, bits and pieces slowly floating away and disappearing.

The process started slowly, but soon became faster. It consumed his whole arm, then his legs. He fell forward, the whole bottom half of his body was gone.

His head his the ground, and he disappeared. His gun was left on the ground, discarded beside him.

Steve only stared in shock, walking towards the spot where his best friend had fallen and disappeared.

He dropped to his knees, and touched the ground with his finger tips. He bowed his head, hiding the tears that cut through the dirt and blood on his cheeks.

He had just gotten his best friend back, and the only time was spent fighting. And now he was gone.

"Bucky…"

* * *

T'challa had wondered how of a mess he had gotten himself and his country into. He should've listened to his general when she suggested how they should expand. Bringing in a Starbucks. Or the Olympics. But no. He had to bring in the Avengers, old and new. Bringing those Black Order freaks with him.

T'challa hit a button and the mask disappeared off his face, and he swallowed deep breaths. The suit had been amazingly built and designed by his brilliant sister, but the suit could only take so much until the body felt it too.

He stumbled forward, looking for someone he knew. Breaking through the bush, he saw his general, Okoye. She was laying on the ground, her spear held loosely in her hands.

He dropped to his knees, holding his hand out to her, and she grasped it tightly.

"Come, General," He rushed, pulling her until she was sitting up. "This is no place to die!"

Okoye squeezed his hand, but then she couldn't feel it anymore. Her eyes widened and he jaw dropped.

Before her very own eyes, T'challa dissolved into little pieces, and disappeared in front of her. She dropped her spear and crawled towards the spot where he had just sat.

"My king!"

* * *

Rocket stood with teenager groot at the fallen tree, surveying the damage. Groot stared at the ground, his video game long been destroyed. Rocket held his gun at his side, an underlying suspicion that it really wasn't over yet.

"I am Groot." Groot's cry caught Rocket's attention, and he saw Groot's arm slowly dissolving into dust.

"No no no no, Groot, no." Rocket reached forward, grasping Groots shoulders, before they crumbled away.

"Please, no." Rocket whispered as Groot disappeared with a final cry. He had lost Groot the first time, and it was almost unbearable. Groot had sacrificed himself for all of them, and giving his own life in the process.

When Rocket had scourged through the rubble, he had found a little twig, and planted it back on the ship, just as a reminder. So he knew what the price was for his life.

But then he had started to grow back. It was a miracle. Rocket had watered and fed the baby Groot, until he had started to get old enough to move and act for himself.

Groot felt like a god dang parent, watching his tree kid grow up. Now a sassy teenager, he was gone. The same pang of hurt in his chest that he felt the first time Groot had died. Now he was gone again.

"No."

* * *

Wanda had her heart ripped out, over and over again.

Her family.

Her brother.

Her love.

She had killed the love of her life, crushed the mind gem while it was still attached to him, destroying the gem and the man. She had all done it while holding off Thanos.

When he showed his face, she was filled with a small sense of satisfaction. She had killed Vision, but at least Thanos would never get to finish what he started.

But then Thanos had the time gem, and everything flew backward in the past. Wanda watched helplessly as Vision was put back together in front of her, mind stone and everything.

When he was back, Wanda screamed and threw herself at the Mad Titan, sounding like a wounded animal. How dare he bring Vision back, after everything it took to make sure he didn't get the gem.

Thanos only batted her aside, knocking her to the ground. From the ground she watched Thanos grasp the stone with his two massive fingers.

He dug into Vision's skull, pulling out the gem from his forehead. The android screamed and Wanda begged him to stop. But then it was out. Thanos had the stone in his hand, and Vision fell to the ground, empty and gray.

Wanda didn't realize what happened then after, she just held her boyfriend in her arms, keeping him held close to her chest.

Then she felt her grip on Vision slip, and he fell to the ground. He fell through her, as her arms and legs dissolved into nothingness.

She cried, but she wasn't upset. She would see her lover, her brother, and her family once again.

* * *

Falcon's wings hitched, and he crashed to the ground with a thud. He rolled, and ripped his goggle off his head. He dropped them on the ground, and his hand disappeared, slowly working way up his arms.

It went up, and before his head disappeared, he uttered a single sentence.

"Come on."

* * *

On the planet Titan, everybody felt the disturbance. There was a moment of silence where everybody looked around, taking in the planet.

It was orange. The whole bloody planet was orange. The sky tinted everything with its hue, and the bouldes jutted up from the ground in deadly spikes. Destroyed ruins laid in between the rocks, signs of an ancient civilization.

Mantis stood next to Quill, still new to the whole fighting situation. She had recently mixed up their phrase, putting take and kick in the wrong order.

Mantis was used to reading emotions, having empathy. But nothing compared to the emotion during a battle. She had stayed hidden almost the whole time, until she had dropped on the Titan's head.

Using all the power she had, she had kept Thanos asleep for long enough to immobilize him. But then Quill had gone berserk, keeping them from truly defeating the titan.

But Mantis couldn't blame him. She felt his feelings, they were real in her own mind. Still next to Quill, Mantis started to feel a little funny.

"Something's happening," she called, getting everyone's attention. She was disappearing, from the feet up. Quill stepped backward, worried if he touched it he would go too. But he wasn't next. Drax was.

"Quill?" Drax's voice called out to him in a way that Quill had never heard before. He sounded scared. But Drax was never scared. And then he was gone, just like Mantis.

Quill was crying. He had been crying, from the rage built up inside of him with Gamora and Thanos, and now losing his friends. He didn't even know if Groot or Rocket was alive. But then he felt it too.

"oh, man." He cried, and disappeared as well.

* * *

Tony didn't know what was going on. He didn't know them well, but the Guardians he had just found out existed had disappeared in front of him, along with some hope that Thanos would be beaten. But there was something left. He still had Strange, and the kid.

Tony whirled around only to see Strange sitting on a rock, looking at him calmly. Tony didn't understand. Their friends were disappearing and all he did was sit there.

"There was no other way." Strange said finally, breaking all of the silence on the planet. Then he was gone, just like Drax, Mantis and Quill. At least he still had-

"Mr. Stark?"

No. Please, no.

"Mr. Stark? I don't feel so good." Tony whipped around as saw Peter standing there in his suit, the mask taken off. His arms were wrapped around his stomach, and a confused look was on his face.

Please no.

Peter stumbled forward, one hand around his stomach and the other reaching for Tony. And he tripped, falling forward. Tony limped forward, catching the younger boy in his arms.

God, no. Please no.

Peter clung to Tony, arms and hands pulling as tight as they cold, trying to hold on.

"Please don't make me go, please, I don't want to go, please don't make me go." Peter sobbed in Tony's arms.

Tony fell, still holding Peter, and Peter rested his head up against the rock. "I'm sorry, Tony."

And then he was gone too. Tony was alone.

Please, no.

No. Please don't take him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, peoples. Fun time. Somewhat. So I thought the last chapter would be like the last sad one, but I forget to add in my favorite hero! So here are some reviews!**

 **Kyle: Yeah, it's not all too exciting, but I wanted to start out with the characters POV. But now we should get into some original stuff now! And yeah, I need that year to be faster.**

 **Guest (Teddy): I know I know, it was just as painful for me as it was for you. But I'm afraid that it's not really going to get any easier. Hopefully at some point... ;)**

 **Alrighty, Y'all ready? Let's go!**

* * *

The man formerly known as the amazing Hawkeye stood in his living room, watching his children play while his arm was wrapped around his wife's shoulder.

They had just gotten the kids a new game, a little set of laser tag guns and vest so that they could run around the house and play laser tag. They watched with a smile as Lila squealed and ran away from Cooper, who was laughing. Nathaniel was in his play crib, clapping his hands and bouncing along as he watched his older siblings.

Life was good.

After Cap had gotten them off the raft, Clint made his way back to his farmhouse as fast as he could. Turned in his resignation, and got home as soon as possible. Turned in his name, and title as an Avenger. He finished, and he didn't know when or if he would go back. But now he was with his wife and kids.

He hoped he had gotten away fast enough so the government couldn't find him. The only problem, hope was not always the strongest thing to lean towards. The government _had_ found them, and Clint almost packed up and left, grabbing his family and moving as far as he could. But if he did, he would still be a fugitive. He heard Scott, gotten a deal, a few years probation and house arrest. So Clint took that deal, and he made sure that only a few agents knew where his family. He had worked so hard to keep his house and family hid away, he was not going to let it go to waste.

Clint didn't know what he would do if something happened to his family.

He unwrapped his arm from Laura's shoulders and excused himself to the kitchen, getting a glass of water from the cabinet. He pressed a button on the fridge, and clear water poured out and into the glass.

A scream cut over the laughing of children.

A glass dropped and shattered into pieces on the floor.

Clint sprinted back into the living room and saw Laura screaming on the floor. She was missing her legs, and the rest of her body was slowly dissolving as well. Clint dived to the floor, falling on his knees next to his wife. He grasped her hand, and they squeezed tightly. Cooper and Lila screamed beside them, not knowing what was going on.

"Laura, baby, I got you. Look at me," Clint cried and tried to grab her shoulders. But they disappeared to dust in between his fingers.

"Baby, I love you! Please come back." Clint shouted as Laura closed her eyes, tears traveling down her cheeks, and disappearing completely.

"Dad? What happened to momma?" Cooper asked, voice wavering. He and Lila were tangled together, holding each other close.

Clint tried to say something that would make sense, but even he didn't know what was going on. He tried to speak, but his voice broke on the first word, and he stopped.

He walked around the couch and grabbed Nathaniel, holding him tight in his arms. He knelt by his two other kids, and they clung to him.

"Kiddos," Clint started, wanting to say what was on his mind before anything else happened. "I don't know what is going on, but I want you to know that no matter what, mommy and I love you so much, and we-"

"Daddy!" His daughter's cry broke his heart and cut off his speech. Lila arms that were wrapped around Cooper were dissolving. Tears ran down her little cheeks, and her screams were matched with another high pitched scream.

In his own arms, Nathaniel was disappearing as well. His little hands reached out and his fist squeezed, wanting to get a grip on his daddy. Lila latched her arms around Clint's neck, and together, they screamed until Lila and Nathaniel were gone.

Clint had tried to keep it together, but when he heard Lila call out for him, his heart broke. Tears streamed down his face as two of his kids dissolved in front of his own eyes.

"Dad?" Cooper's timid voice broke through his sobs and Clint locked eyes with his son. They sat for a moment in silence, staring at each other, sharing a moment that neither understood. Clint was almost afraid to touch his son as if his touch was the thing causing his family to disappear.

When Clint was sure that Cooper was still there, that his son would not disappear, he shot forward and grabbed him tightly, pulling him into a hug that he never wanted to end.

Father and son cried as they held each other, sitting on the floor of the farmhouse.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey peoples! Y'all ready for more emotionally crushing chapters about our heroes? I'm not, but is anybody really? ;) So now we're really kicking into the story, not just point of the people anymore. But first, reviews! There are so many of these piling in, I'm so happy!**

 **SolaceInSciFi: I know, Peter made me so upset. I cry literally every time. Thank you, I really try to figure out what they would be thinking at that moment, and its kind of fun to put myself in their position and to figure what their thoughts and emotions are. It is going to be a really long year. And having Hawkeye and Ant-Man missing made me really think about what happened to them. Hawkeye and Spidey are my favorite characters ever, so I really tried to play on their emotions. I'm glad you're enjoying it!**

 **totallynotachicken: I know. Feels suck, right? ;)**

 **theawesomedragonhunter: I know, man. It hurts. I was looking for them to, it was dumb they didn't have them in it.**

 **Sanboss: Thank you so much for catching that! It was a dumb mistake and I wrote the chapter at night so I wasn't paying attention. That should be all fixed. Thanks for noticing!**

 **Alrighty peeps, are you ready? Enjoy!**

* * *

Dust and rocks crumbled around him, along with his confidence. He had tried to keep strong, but his world was shattering around him. But wasn't it always? It was his fault, just every other time. Ultron. The Sokovia Accords. Now he was alone on this godforsaken planet with nothing left to hold him together.

Tony knelt in the dirt and rocks, eyes wide and staring at the ground. His hand covered his mouth, the only thing from keeping him from screaming. Tears that were never supposed to show escaped and made trails down his dirt and blood covered face. His body was shaking and he couldn't stop. He was having another panic attack, and he couldn't afford to have one right now.

His anxiety kicked into overload, consuming every corner of his thoughts.

" _It's all my fault, oh God it's all my fault. What did I do-what if- oh God? What happened? Where did everybody go? I don't know I don't understand- Peter. Oh my God, he's just a kid he's just a kid. Why did he come? He could've been at home right now, God! He's just a kid. They're all gone."_

When Tony had an attack, FRIDAY had his medicine handy or Pepper was there to talk him out of it.

Pepper… was she ok?

Tony didn't know, his head hurt too much to think. They were all gone! And it was his fault.

"It's not your fault." A voice rung out over the barren landscape and Tony immediately sprung into action. His arm flew out from his mouth and he held it in front of him, the half-working repulsive beam flashing.

"I mean if that's what you're thinking. It's not any of our faults."

The voice spoke again, and Tony scanned the area frantically, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. Movement behind a piece of metal caught his attention and he aimed his hand at it.

"Who's there?" He shouted, and a blue figure walked out with her hands raised. Tony recognized her from the Guardians' ship and lowered his arm.

"What's your name again?" Tony asked and hung his head. At least it wasn't another bad guy.

"Nebula," she answered, and sat down on a rock across from Tony. "And I meant what I said. It's not your fault. We all have done stupid things, made unnecessary sacrifices. But it's not our fault."

Nebula remembered the torture Thanos had dealt from his own hand. It felt like it would continue for years when it was really only less than 24 hours. It was pain and agony. She didn't ask to be torn apart and put back together again. Over and over. But Gamora had sacrificed herself for her. But Nebula could never repay that debt. Because Thanos had killed her for the soul stone.

Nebula wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She was a machine, made and put together by the Mad Titan himself. She was programmed to kill and destroy, not to display emotions. It felt like she was crying on the inside, but no tears would ever escape her eyes.

"It's all Thanos."

Nebula hissed and cringed at even the sound of her own voice saying his name. Tony looked up at her with remorse in his eyes. He wanted to crack a joke, make a sarcastic comment, anything to lighten the mood. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was all too real for him to make a joke.

"Thanks," Was all he managed out. Kicking the doubts and anxiety to the back of his mind, he focused on the more pressing matters. The whole time he had been thinking and talking, his other hand had been pressed up against his stomach, trying to stop the blood flow and failing.

"Can I get some help over here?" Tony asked as sweat broke out over his brow, and Nebula nodded. She walked over to him and held out her hand and Tony grabbed it with a death grip. With a tug and a grunt of pain from Tony, he was up but unstable.

"So, what do you need-" Nebula started to asked until her eyes locked on the blood pouring out of Tony's side. She swore under her breath and caught Tony as he swayed and fell. She laid him back on the ground and kneeled beside him, looking over him to survey the damage.

His side had a hole in it, from when Thanos had stabbed him with part of his own suit. It was large and bleeding heavily, and from the size of the blood puddle, she could tell he was on the brink of bleeding out.

"I need to close that now, or else you're going to die of blood loss," Nebula said, taking a closer look at the wound. Tony's new armor was the high tech bleeding edge armor, and it covered his body except for the area around the wound. The suit was breaking down, so various other areas were out in the open, but she wasn't concerned about that right then.

"That wouldn't be too bad, I guess. I mean, I already lost everyone I've ever cared about," Tony said, eyes glassy and mumbling. His eyes started to close and Nebula slapped him on the head, not so gently.

"No. That's no way to talk. There's gotta be someone waiting for you. Your parents? A girlfriend?" Nebula ripped a piece of cloth from his shirt underneath the suit and wiped away the blood from the wound, ignoring the groans of pain from her patient.

"Fiancee, actually. Parents are dead, so she was one of the few people I had left. We were getting married. Her name's Pepper. We were planning the wedding when, when," He trailed off and Nebula understood.

"That's good. Think about Poppy."

"Pepper."

"Whatever. Think about her."

Nebula's best option for this was to sew the hole back up. When she looked, it didn't seem to affect any internal or important organs, but they needed to stop the bleeding. Stitching was the best option for keeping it as clean as possible for being on an alien planet, but she didn't have anything like a needle or string.

"But how do I even know if she's alive? I mean, I've already lost Strange, Quill and Peter. Oh, Pete's just a kid. How do we know if the Earth's still there, let alone Pepper?" Tony mumbled again, and Nebula shrugged.

"You would feel it, wouldn't you?"

Nebula pulled open the casing of her arm and looked around inside. She located the least necessary wires and metal and snapped them out with a grunt. It felt like she was pulling out her own veins. In a sense, she was. She tied the wire together and sharpened the metal as best as she could while she talked.

"I felt it when Gamora died. She was the sister I wanted but hated when she was around. We had a complicated relationship. Every fight, every battle she would win, and I'd get replaced with another metal object. I hated her with every fiber of my being for that. But then thing changed. She saved me and loved me. So I learned to love her back, a little at a time."

Nebula swallowed as the wires were all finished and the metal was as sharp as it was going to be.

"So our connection grew, and I just knew. Even with my inside being made of metal, when she died, I knew. She wasn't coming back, ever." Nebula finished looping the wire through the makeshift needle and looked at Tony.

"I can't have you passing on me while I do this, ok? So you need to talk to me." Tony nodded, and Nebula bent down to start working.

"Wait!" Tony shouted, suddenly remembering something. His one armored hand made a fist for a few seconds and then opened it over his wound. Little tiny microbots dropped from his hand into the wound, crawling around inside him.

"Microbots." He explained. "They'll destroy any infection. You can close it now," He said and Nebula started stitching while Tony talked.

Talking was one of the many things he excelled at, so while she pierced his skin, connecting the skin together, Tony told her his life story. He started from the very beginning, with his parent's deaths and the rough connections with his father. He continued on, and rough spots in the story and stitching were punctuated by grunts and bouts of coughing, but they got through it.

Tony had just finished talking about the civil war when Nebula finished and tied off the knot. It wasn't pretty, but it would hold for now. Tony stood back up with Nebula's help, his armor using some of its last energy to cover the wound, protecting it.

"So," He asked as he and Nebula looked out across the rubble covered land.

"How do we get off this freaking planet?"


	6. Chapter 6

Pain.

Pain was all he felt.

He felt like he was crying. Was he? He thought he was.

Crying and Pain.

He just wanted to go home.

* * *

Wanda ran forward, trying to go in a straight line for as long as possible. But she had a feeling that her line wasn't very straight. There was nothing to base her directions off of, because there was nothing around her except for orange sand. There was nothing around, and there was nobody.

Wanda felt tears rolling down her cheeks and she tripped in the sand, falling face first. She laid there in the sand, turning over on her back so she could breathe. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and they mixed with a tiny bit of sweat.

She was exhausted, hungry, thirsty, and in pain. She had not walked away from fighting directly with Thanos unscathed. Wanda couldn't pinpoint where exactly she hurt, it was everywhere. As soon as she had woken up she had just started running. Running away from everything, her thoughts, her feelings, her emotions. She had started running, but she didn't know where she was going.

Laying down again, catching her breath, everything that she had been running from caught up with her. An overloading number of emotions hit her all at once. Anger, resentment, fear, sadness.

She sat back up, still not ready to deal with everything yet. But this time, instead of running, she channeled her feelings into her hands, and used her powers. Wanda was shot up into the air, a burst of red energy flowing behind her.

Then she heard a crack and her arm was on fire, and she was falling.

Falling, then she hit the ground with a thud. She groaned and grabbed her arms, clutching it close to her chest. Even touching it made the pain start all over again. It was excruciating. Pulling her sleeve back carefully, Wanda winced when she saw the massive amount of bruising and purple that covered her forearm. Along with the crack that she heard in the air, she guessed her arm was broken.

She trudged forward again, her hurt arm up across her chest. She sniffed a couple times, staring at her feet as they marched, one step at a time.

Looking up in the distance, the sand almost matched the sky, making it impossible to know where the horizon was. There was something that resembled a sun in the sky, but it was less bright. There was still nothing around her.

Wait. Something caught her attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure standing

the distance. Wanda broke out it what was almost a smile. She wasn't alone.

She started running again, fuel by something other than running away from her feelings. She sprinted, faster and faster, ignoring the pain in her body, ignoring her arm, all of it. There was nothing more important right then than getting to that person.

Wanda was moving fast, rapidly approaching the person.

"Hey! Hey!" Wanda screamed, the wind carrying her voice across the sand. The person must've heard it, right? But the figure stood there, unmoving. They were facing the so-called sun, unmoving. Wanda continued running, holding her uninjured hand to shield her eyes from the sun.

Wanda's steps faltered when she got close enough to see the person's back. The man's blue long sleeve shirt covered his hands, hooking over his thumbs. He had on tight pants and gym shoes, laced up tight. His hair stood out from his clothes, dark brown at the roots and a light blond everywhere else.

His clothes and body were accented by splashes of red that weren't paint or ink.

Wanda would recognize him anywhere. But it wasn't possible. Wanda couldn't form words until he turned around and looked at her.

"Pietro?" Wanda whispered, and he smiled at her. She fell to her knees, in shocked. Her dead brother stood before her, alive. But if he was alive, was she dead? Wanda didn't feel dead. She looked down at the rest of her body, checking to see if she had any life-threating injuries. She didn't

"Where are we?" She asked, her voice still barely heard over the wind. Pietro still didn't say anything, just held his bloody hand out to her. Wanda looked at the hand skeptically, but her brain screaming at her saying, _it's your brother,_ won over.

She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up, giving a quick squeeze. Wanda was astonished.

Acting purely on instinct, Wanda stepped in front of her brother. Keeping her one hand tight in Pietro's hand, her other hand unconsciously ran over his body, resting over the blood stains on his torso. She brushed them with her fingertips, expecting to come back red. But it wasn't.

"Can you feel this?" Wanda asked, not looking up at her brother's face as she pressed the area that got shot. She looked up expectantly, and Pietro just smiled. When she was finished, Pietro nodded his head forward, wanting to walk. Hand in hand, the siblings walked away from the setting sun.

"Pietro, where are we?" Wanda asked, hoping to actually get a straight answer out of him. Pietro was never this quiet. He was always talking or joking.

"Pietro, look at me." Wanda commanded and stopped walking. Pietro stopped in front of her, face inches from hers.

"Is this Hell?" Wanda asked, holding his hands tight. She needed an answer to this question, before anything else.

Pietro shook his head, the first time he actually responded to a question. Before Wanda could ask another question, Pietro leaned down and kissed Wanda on the forehead. Then his hand slid out from Wanda's grasp and he turned his back on her, walking towards the sunset.

"Pietro?" Wanda didn't even have time to understand what was going on. "Pietro come back!"

Wanda ran after her brother, but he was slowly shrinking in the distance.

"Pietro!" Her screams reached empty ears, because Pietro was already gone. In an instant, she lost her brother again. She sprinted to the spot where she had seen him and fell to her knees, hands buried in the sand.

She sobbed, then she screamed.

She screamed until her throat was numb and she couldn't even whisper.

So instead, she screamed with her powers.

Ignoring the pain and the sound of the cracks in her already hurt bones she touched the ground with her fingertips and let her powers do all the talking.

The ground shook and roared, the most powerful she had ever been. Sand shot into the unnaturally orange sky, blasting the wind.

All of the anger was wrapped up in the end by a huge crack. Wanda froze, expected a vital bone in her body to be broken, but she couldn't feel it. She looked up at the sky and it was defined with a single crack, breaking the orange in that one place.

Wanda stared at the sky in awe.

 _If she wasn't Hell, where was she?_

Wanda aimed her hands towards the sky, ready to send another round to the crack.

But as soon as the red brushed her fingertips, she fell to the ground in agony. It felt like every bone in her body was broken. Her powers were hurting her more than helping.

Wanda felt like getting up, but her body told her no.

 _Just one minute. It'll be a quick nap_ , she told herself, and then Wanda passed out.


	7. Chapter 7

James Buchanan Barnes woke up, eyes flashing towards the sky. He looked over to his left, sighing with almost relief when he found his new metal arm still attached. T'challa had given him it, a present. Bucky almost didn't accept it, because they used his country to hide from their own, and he was already so generous. But in the end, T'challa insisted, and Bucky took it. It was nice, made of vibrainum so it flexible and the most comfortable one Bucky had ever been in contact with.

Bucky shut his eyes and let a small breath escape his lips. With a grunt he sat up, balancing on his hands behind him until he stood up fully. His dark blue and black was ripped in some places, but it was still mostly intact. A hissing pain brought his attention to the bicep part of his arm, where a bullet had sliced through the outer part of the flesh.

Blood dripped down his arm, and Bucky hissed. It wasn't too bad, but he needed to cover it. He ripped off a strip from his shirt and wrapped it around the wound, holding the blood for now. He tied it with a knot, using his teeth and free hand to pull it tight. His hair fell into his face, and he

had to shake his head to get it out of the way.

When he finished tying it, he ripped off another small strip and held it in his hand. Shuri had shown him how to do this once, but he had never really done it himself. He gathered all his hair and brought it to the back of his head, making sure not to miss any strands. When they were all back his pulled it tight and wrapped the strip around it, tying it as well. When he let go his hair was out of his face in a ponytail, making it much less annoying.

Using his metal hand to shield his eyes from the sun, he looked out across the distance, looking for anybody. But there was nothing. No trees, no bushes, not even grass. It was all sand. Bucky didn't really like sand all too much because it got in his arm and messed with the joints, making it hard to move. So he tried to stay out of it as much as possible.

All of a sudden, he heard a scream and his head whipped out. He automatically stood in a fighting position, metal hand curled into a fist in front of him while his real arm was near his face.

He turned in a full circle, scanning the area for any threats.

Then the scream happened again, but it didn't sound like someone in distress. It was full of sadness and rage.

Bucky faced the direction where it sounded the loudest and started running that direction. Soon enough, Bucky came upon a figure in front of him, and he ran faster. There was someone else here other than him.

The screams continued until they were cut off abruptly, like choking. Bucky stopped running when he saw it was Wanda, kneeling on the ground. He took quieter steps, trying not to scare her when she dug her hands into the sand.

Then Bucky was knocked backward by the blast of energy that escaped from her, thrown into the rough sand almost twenty feet away.

He groaned and spit sand out of his mouth, rubbing the back of his head where it connected with the ground. The ground was shaking underneath him, all from Wanda. Suddenly, he heard a crack and looked up at the sky, where a broken line appeared in the orange sky.  
Bucky stared up in astonishment as Wanda sent a blast of energy towards, only to drop to the ground.

"Wanda!" Bucky yelled and crawled out of the sand, running towards her. By the time he reached her, she had passed out on the ground.

Bucky looked around as he kneeled over the unconscious girl, looking for any signs of shelter. Seeing none, he sighed and stood back up. Being gentle, he picked up Wanda around her back and underneath her knees, so her head was resting on the inside of his shoulder and one arm was wrapped around his shoulder.

Bucky walked with Wanda in his arms for a while, just walking towards the sun, trying to find something. After what felt like hours of walking, Bucky felt Wanda shift in his arms. Stopping there, he placed her on the ground, kneeling over her.

"Maximoff, are you alright?" Wanda's eyes opened with a flash and she crawled backward, throwing one arm up in front of her and the other set a blast of red at Bucky. It hit him in the chest and he flew backward. Wanda stood up and locked another one around his neck, choking him.

Bucky gasped and his fingers pulled at the invisible hand holding his throat as Wanda looked around wildly, eyes wide and glassy. Bucky choked and sputtered, legs kicking through the sand,

"Wanda-it's me. It's Buck-" His sentence was choked off before he could finish and he couldn't breathe. He wouldn't last must long. Then, in an instant, the hold was gone. Bucky sat up immediately and took a deep breath in, choking on all the air he had tried to get back into his lungs. After a minute of heavy breathing, he was back to normal, and he looked at Wanda with soft eyes.

She was on the ball, curled up with her arms wrapped around her legs and head in between her knees. Bucky moved across the sand until he was sitting in front of her.

"Wanda?" He asked again, talking softly. She sniffed and didn't look at him, just kept her head in between her knees.

"Wanda look at me." Wanda sighed and looked up at the man, wiping her eyes gently with her fingers.

Bucky smiled as he looked at the younger girl. He put his real hand on her knee, trying to be comforting.

"You're not real," Wanda whispered, backing away from his touch. Her accent came back in full strength as she sat there crying. Bucky looked at her confused, smile faltering for a second.

"What? Yes, I'm real. What are you talking about?" Wanda turned her head and looked away.

"Wanda, what did you see?" Bucky asked, now concerned.

"Pietro. Pietro was here, he was with me, I held his hand but then he left." Wanda said through sobs and Bucky understood. Steve had told him about the twins before he went under. Steve had caught him up with everything in modern times. It was a miracle.

"He left?"

Wanda nodded, looking back up at Bucky. "Yeah, he left. Just disappeared. I saw the blood but I couldn't touch it, then he just walked off and disappeared." She rushed, trying to get all the words out at once.

Bucky nodded and immediately unwrapped the strip of his shirt that covered the gunshot wounds. "Here, Wanda, look. Blood."

Wanda looked at it skeptically and Bucky touched the cloth. His fingertips came back red. "See? It's fresh. I'm real."

Wanda's eyes opened with realization and she jumped forward, wrapping her arms around Bucky's neck. He chuckled softly and hugged her back and they sat there, hugging each other,

knowing they weren't alone.

When Wanda pulled back, she groaned quietly and Bucky was back in full concerned mode. He used to be in this phase all the time when he was with Steve in the 40s. But now Steve was a big boy, and he could handle himself. But that couldn't stop Bucky from being concerned about him almost all the time.

Bucky shook his head, getting those thoughts out of his head. He had avoided thinking about Steve and everything that had happened for so long, he didn't need to start now.

"Wanda, are you alright?" He asked, looking over the girl. He grew tense as she shook her head, holding her arms. "What happened?"

Wanda hissed as she pulled back the sleeves to her jacket. Her hands and forearms of both arms were dark purple and blue, covered in bruises.

"I was fighting Thanos, and he threw me. I got hit and was already hurt. Then here, I used my powers and something snapped. I heard it." She sniffed as two more tears rolled down her cheeks. "I don't know what's going on, I've never had this happen before!"

Bucky shushed her and gently took her arms in his not metal hand. "It's going to be alright. You'll be fine, you are one of the strongest women I have seen. You and Natasha, I mean." Bucky smiled and got a small one out of Wanda as he looked at the damage. Her right seemed to be completely broken by her forearm, and her left just seemed to be bruised.

"Let me see your jacket." Wanda shrugged off the red leather jacket and handed it to him. Bucky had her slide her right arm into its sleeve and hold it there. Then he took the rest of the jacket and wrapped it around her shoulder and tied it behind her back, creating a makeshift sling.

"There we go. My guess? Right arm is broken, and your left one hurts, but I don't think it is broken. Just try to keep off your right one the most and definitely don't use your powers," He instructed her and she nodded.

"Let's keep moving, try to find some shelter." Bucky grabbed Wanda's mostly uninjured hand and grasped it in his real hand, giving a gentle squeeze. Wanda looked up at him gratefully, needing something to ground her thoughts. Together they walked forward, heading in whatever direction that seemed good.

They walked and they talked, about whatever was on their mind. They talked mostly in Russian, a common language they could both relate to. English was great and all, but Wanda used to have to constantly translate in her head, so sometimes using another language was easier.  
Wanda told stories about what she and her brother used to do, the trouble that Pietro used to get in. Stories about her hometown, stories about Ultron and other things Bucky had been caught up on yet.

Bucky told stories about the dreams he had, what he remembered under the HYDRA control, everything. He told her of his experiences in the 1940's the most, what it was like back then and how it was different from now.

"Are we dead?" Bucky asked in Russian after there was a long pause in between conversation. Wanda shook her head.

"No. Or, at least I don't think so. Pietro told me that this wasn't Hell, so that is something." Bucky looked at her skeptically.

"And you believe him?"

"Yes. He may be dead, but he is my brother. He wouldn't lie to me."

Bucky sighed and looked at the weird colored sky. "Where are we then?"

Wanda shook her head. "I don't know. I think-wait, look! I see something!"

Both the heroes covered the brims of their forehead with their hand, trying to spot the object against the light. After searching for a moment, Bucky found what Wanda was staring at, and he almost couldn't believe it himself.

"Let's go!"

The two of them ran, Bucky just ahead of Wanda, but close enough so she could catch up. As they got closer and closer to the object, it became clearer to what it was.

It was a pile of rocks, stacked on top of one another, going about 100 feet backward, and the same distance across. If they were in the real world, it wouldn't be called a cave and found somewhere surrounded by dirt. But neither of the heroes knew what this place was.  
Without hesitation, they ran inside, and instant relief to find out it was real and not a hallucination. They dropped to the ground, laying in the cooler sand as the shaded area provided relief from the heat. They almost laughed.

Almost.

"What are we going to do now?" Wanda asked, still using the language she was familiar with. Before Bucky could answer, they heard a groan echo from deeper inside the cave.

"What the-" Bucky started to say as the groaning got louder. The more they listened, it started to sound like sobbing, part sadness, and part pain.

Taking up fighting positions, the two of them explored deeper in the cave, trying to find the source of the noise. There wasn't any light in the cave, making it harder to see as they got farther back.

As they reached the very back of the cave, the two heroes froze at what they saw. A figure, laying on the ground, barely moving.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, sorry that took me forever to update, but I really didn't know what I wanted to do but I finally figured it out. I hope you guys are enjoying this story, I'm having a lot of fun writing it, even though it's taking me forever to update. Well, here are reviews!**

 **skigirl51: Is is Peter? I don't know... ;)**

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He should've been a king.

He should've been _treated_ like a king. He was their savior after all. All thanks to him, they had all the resources they needed, without a chance of running out. Until their population moved past what happened and they grew again, reaching the same amount of people, and possibly more. When that happened, he wouldn't be there to save them, they would be on their own.

He should've felt like a king, but he didn't.

Sitting under his canopy, his throne was feeling very important. It simple, but it represented everything that he worked for. _Simplicity._ He looked out across the land, watching the orange sunset disappear below the horizon of orange sand. Everything was orange. It was a disgusting color, but it took time to get used to it. Besides, he didn't have much choice. He was inside the soul stone, after all, and it was orange itself.

Thanos took a moment to tear his eyes away from sunset and bring his gloved hand up in front of his face. Everything he had worked for came from the simple metal glove. Except it wasn't so simple. Each of the infinity stones glittered in the sunlight, bouncing off the metal and shooting out a million different directions.

He turned his palm towards him, and wiggled his fingers gently, feeling the flexibility. He never got a chance to truly admire the design of the gauntlet. It was sleek and smooth, and it fit around his massive hand like a second skin, like it was made for him. It was his destiny. It saved them all.

So he had done just that. Thanos had saved millions of planets, thousands of galaxies, billions and billions and _billions_ of people. But had he ever gotten a thank you? Never. He was their king, their savior, and that was how they treated him. With disgust, and contempt. They didn't understand what he had done for them. They didn't see things from his point of view. And nobody ever would, because now, in his little shade, Thanos was completely and utterly alone.

Thanos shut his eyes, replaying every moment of his time on Earth. The silly heroes. They thought it had worked out in their favor. But every single one of his moves was a part of his plan. Even when they were on his home planet, and they had him trapped. The girl on his head, making him sleep, everyone else on his arms and legs, pulling off the gauntlet.

Then Quill had come, looking for revenge. Thanos understood, he had killed the love of his life. But what Quill didn't know was Thanos lost a piece of himself when he killed Gamora. It was just as painful for him. Of course, it wasn't Quill's fault. He was angry, and Thanos knew it was going to happen. He had planned it to happen that way. Then the rest of his teammates would blame the guardian, and he would get away scot-free, without them knowing it was his fault.

Everything that had happened was his fault. And he only had one regret. The one regret is always the biggest one.

Footsteps in front of him made Thanos open his eyes, focusing on the small person in front of him. Two identical buns were on the top of her head, small wisps of hair falling out of the sides. Her purple and red robe matched the highlights in her head, and small brown eyes contrasted the green skin as she started up at him.

She stared up at him, blinking slowly. "What did it cost?" She said in her perfect little voice. Thanos remembered everything. Taking her from her village, raising her, his undying love for her. That same love would never be returned, she had been sure to make that clear.

Thanos sat back, and little stood in her place. He shut his eyes, waiting to say the answer. He knew as soon as he would say it, she would disappear. He didn't want that. Not yet.

"Everything."

The voice that answered for him startled Thanos and he sat up, looking around. Standing next to young Gamora was the older one, the one he had sacrificed for the soul stone.

"Little one?" He asked confused, and the Gamora's grabbed each other's hand, taking one step closer to him.

"What did it cost?" They said in unison, and Thanos could only sit back and watch as they alternated answering, the younger Gamora starting.

"My mother."

"My friends."

"My village."

"My childhood."

"My freedom."

"My sister."

"Peter." The older Gamora finished, a single tear running down her cheek. Thanos stared open mouthed at the two versions of his daughter, not a difference between them. Always the same cold, quiet Gamora.

"I'm sorry, little one." Thanos said, reaching his regular hand out. The Gamora's stepped back, hand in hand. Thanos stood up, following after him, just out of reach. They had run out into the sand before they stepped backing away, and Thanos lumbered over them.

"Now you pay the price," the older Gamora growled, and slowly the two of them turned into dust.

"No, no, no, no!" Thanos yelled, swiping where they had previously stood, attempting to grab hold of them. He hand dropped and he fell to the ground, tears rolling down his cheeks. He sat in the sand, crying for a few minutes before suddenly stopping. That was enough emotion.

He stood up and walked back to his throne, dusting off some sand that had gotten blown up into his seat. He leaned back and admired the gauntlet again. When he looked into the time stone, he saw fractured pieces of Gamora sticking out in the reflection. This time, Thanos didn't even give it a second glance. He dropped his hand, letting the metal thunk against his throne.

He did what he was supposed to do. Without him, entire civilizations would be in peril. He was doing good work. And now, he genuinely believed it.

No matter what they thought, he _was_ their king. And if they didn't believe it, he would make them. Eventually, they would all bow to him. They always would. In the end, he would be in charge. He would not be benevolent, he would be a dictator. Cruel, treating the people with disgust and contempt. Just like they had treated him. He was evil after all, the villain. He knew he was the villain, and he embraced it.

As Thanos looked out across the sand, into the sunset. Everything that had happened had been his fault. And he had no regrets.

He would be king.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys, I just got back from an awesome vacation, and I needed to post some more, so here's the next chapter!**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **skigirl51: Thanks! I kind of thought of it on a whim and I wanted to do it.**

 **Alrighty guys, enjoy!**

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Soon he became aware of his ragged breathing, the first thing that his previously unconscious mind had thought of. It was loud and uneven, not sounding too normal. Then came the pain. Good Lord the pain. It was in his head, his back, traveled down his legs and arms. It was everywhere. There was nothing but the pain in him, he was a body full of pain.

His eyes shot open suddenly and he attempted to sit up. Well, at least he thought he did. In reality, he was still lying on the ground. In his blurry vision, he saw a face. This face had long hair, a beard, and kind eyes. He looked down more and saw the metal that was hanging to his side. He knew who this was.

"Kid? You alright?" Bucky's voice floated down from above the young Peter, but he only heard it faintly. The only reason he could tell what the soldier was saying was by reading his lips.

Suddenly, as if a rubber band snapped, all of Peter's senses came rushing back, his Spidey-sense enhancing all of them. Mr. Stark had told him about this, a sensory overload. Mr. Stark had told him all about, shared with examples of his own anxiety and panic attacks, but Peter had never actually _experienced_ one before. It was not fun.

He could hear everything, and it felt like his eardrums were going to explode. He could hear his heart, pounding pounding pounding from inside his own chest. It banged against his ribcage, wanting to burst from his chest. He heard the wind pick up each grain of sand and throw them against the rocky wall of the cave, sounding like gunshots next to his head.

Colors were bright and his eyesight was insanely sharp. He was able to see every detail. He saw every pore of the White Wolf's face, every piece of hair on his beard. He could see the sand and the cracks in the rock above him. Those colors pounding at his eyes, feeling like knives were coming through the front and a hammer was pounding from behind.

He could taste blood from inside his mouth, along with mixes of dirt, sand, and rocks. All of them were lodged in his throat. He smelled all that same dirt and gravel, along with sweat and blood. It reeked off himself and the two people that stood before him. He gagged, overwhelmed by the two combined.

He could feel everything. It was the only thing that attempted to ground him. The dirt underneath him, digging through the cracks of his suit and touching his skin, the mask covering his own face. The sensors in his gloves let him replicate the feeling of the skin through his hands.

Next, pain. Again. Nothing but pain. The feeling was the most overwhelming sense, accented by the pure pain raging through his body. His head felt like it was going to tear down the middle, and his body was bruised and bloodied from behind thrown around by Thanos.

Most of all was _that_ feeling. Tears streamed down his face even attempting to think about it. Whatever had happened, Thanos had snapped his fingers, and Peter had just felt terrible. Like his stomach was eating him from the inside out. He remembered clearly now. He had stumbled forward, only being caught by Mr. Stark. Tony. It was immense pain, the feeling of disappearing. It felt like his atoms were being pulled apart one by one until he was completely gone.

The next thought occurred to him. Had the other felt like him. He couldn't have been the only one. Considering Bucky and Wanda were there with him, they must've gone through it too. Did they feel the same way he did? What about Tony? Was he here too, hurt and confused, just like Peter?

With a gasp, trying to get the air that wouldn't reach his lung, Peter tapped a button on his suit and his mask popped off, exposing his face. His hair was tangled and wild, and the sandblasted against his face, but the mask was off. He felt even more claustrophobic while he was still in the suit, and he fumbled for the button that made it all get off. As soon as he pressed it, the suit unlatched from his body and folded itself up in a nice little box that was the perfect size to fit in a backpack.

Peter was left on the ground in his old suit, the one Tony had given him in the first. The red and blue suit looked different in contrast to the red and gold Iron Spider. He let the original red and blue mask slip from his fingers and hit the sand.

As soon as it was gone, Peter attempted another breath, still getting nowhere with the breathing. He gasped over and over, trying to get that air. His sense was overloading, and he had no idea how to stop it. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his hands over his ears as if it would stop the noise he was hearing. He started to gag, but couldn't move.

Wanda had seen this before, she knew the same thing the young boy was going through. Immediately she dropped to her knees and pushed Peter onto his side with her one good hand, knowing he was about to throw up. As always, she was right and Peter vomited onto the side right next to his face. Instead of rolling away from it, Peter pressed his hands against his ears tighter and curled into himself, trying to squeeze himself tight enough it would all go away.

"What are we going to do?" Bucky asked quietly, looking over at Wanda. Wanda put a finger to her lips, silencing him. She knew this feeling, and she could only think of one thing that might help.

Slowly, she inched her fingers closer to the shaking boy's body, right for his temples. When she was close enough, she pressed her fingers into his head, using her powers. Instantly she gasped, all his memories now becoming hers. The one she felt most of was being in Tony Stark's arms, right before he had disappeared.

Pushing through those memories, Wanda used her power to put Peter's senses at bay, pushing the overload to the back of his head, taking his attention off those. Instead, she found a fun memory, one of Peter playing with a baseball with an older man. That memory told her that he was his uncle. It was nice. So Wanda moved that memory to the front and Peter instantly relaxed, his arms dropped from his head and the wrinkles in his forehead disappearing.

Wanda dropped her hands and looked down at the forcefully sleeping boy, looking so peaceful now that he wasn't thinking about those. She sat down next to him, crisscrossed, and pulled his head into her lap so he wasn't lying on the ground. He was still curled up, and Wanda brushed off his forehead, running her good hand through his hair, playing with it gently.

He was just a child, and he reminded Wanda of herself. Young, innocent, and being used. He had been dragged into this whole mess, by none other than Thanos. A child. Brought into the mess of a war. It was disgusting.

"What are we going to do now?" Bucky asked, sitting down next to Wanda and leaning against the cave wall.

Wanda shook her head. "Nothing. We are going to wait until he wakes up. Then we can go look for others."

The three heroes sat silently in the cave, the broken Spider-man lying in Wanda's lap as she ran her fingers through his hair. Quietly, she started to hum a soft Russian lullaby that she knew, looking down fondly at the child. Surprising her and himself, Bucky knew the soft and joined in, their voices mixing in one harmony as the wind beat the outside of the cave.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, whoo, this was kind of a short chapter, but more action is going to unfold real soon, I promise. But it may be a little longer to update because school as started and there's going to a little slower update, but it will be there. Right now,**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **skigirl51: Thanks, I try to make it as real as possible for the little experience I have. Thanks for reviewing!**

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There were no words to even try and explain what had just unfolded before them.

They had won. Thor had gotten Thanos, right in the heart. There was nothing left for him to do.

 _Snap._

One noise and it all changed.

" _You should've aimed for the head."_

The titan's final words haunted Thor as he stood at the edge of the clearing, his new hammer hanging loosely in his hands. He looked down at it, twisting the wooden handle in between his hands, given to him by his friend, Tree. It didn't feel right. To be standing here with it still in his possession while the person responsible for holding it together was not. His eyes flicked over to the deep purple stain at the head of the ax. Where it had stuck into the titan's chest. It hadn't been good enough.

Steve Rogers knelt in front of the lifeless Vision, his forehead crushed. It was horrible. A horrible way to die, and even worse for others. Wanda sacrificed her love to save the world but had to sit and watch when Thanos used the time stone to reverse the damage and kill him all over again.

It was hard enough to see a loved one die. But twice? That was _torture_.

But of course, Steve didn't even know where Wanda went. Everyone disappeared, _snap_ , in a blink of an eye.

Natasha stood over him, a hand pressed against her side. She was probably hurting but knowing the Black Widow, she wouldn't let them know until she thought she absolutely needed to. "What are we going to do?" She asked, eyes looking back and forth, taking notes of everyone and how badly they were injured. The assassin had gotten good at taking care of the rest of them.

"Oh, God," Steve whispered, thinking about the massive amount of damage the titan could've done. Natasha walked over and placed her hand on Steve's shoulder, trying to bring some sort of comfort to the man, but it didn't have any effect.

Natasha looked down at Steve sadly, then turned back to the rest of the people with a sigh. "Ok, we need to do a headcount, see who's standing." Quiet but affirmative noises came from everyone, eyes downcast.

Natasha listed names, and only half the people answered. The people left were Steve, herself, Banner, Rhodey, and Okoye. Everyone else had disappeared, gone off only god knows where. Another name jumped into Natasha head, one that made her eyes widen in concern. She whipped out her phone and prayer the Wakanda forest had some form of service. When she reached two bars, she almost cried out in relief. Pressing the first number on speed dial, she excused herself from the grieving captain and the confused rest of the team, whispering prayers underneath her breath.

" _Nat?_ " The name uttered by the voice on the other end brought a huge sigh of relief for her.

"Clint, thank God you're alright," Natasha said, overjoyed by just the sound of her partner's voice. Her relief ended when she recognized the slight tremble in a voice that was normally strong. Against the rules of the Sokovia Accords, she kept in contact with the archer, calling him almost every week to catch up and see how the family was doing, and whenever she was sure she wouldn't be caught by the government, she stopped by the farm to see the Bartons. They were doing alright, Clint was unnerved by the ankle monitor, and the lack of mobility he had from it, but the last phone call they had before she had to drop off the grid said he was close to finishing his sentence and it would be off in a few weeks.

" _Natasha,"_ Clint said again, his voice cracking in the middle of her name.

"Clint, talk to me," Natasha nearly shouted, plugging one gloved finger into her ear to block out any noise. Except that the forest was nearly silent.

" _She's gone, Tasha, I-I… she's gone, they all disappeared! Coop's here but they…"_ Natasha swore under her breath, with a guess of what was going on.

"Barton. Who's gone?"

" _Everyone, except me and Cooper. Laura, Lila, Nathaniel, they disappeared. It was like...like, I can't even describe it, like-"_ He paused for a second, thinking of the right word. " _Dust. Like dust, and they fell right through my hands, I couldn't stop it, I-"_

It confirmed Natasha's fears. The same thing that happened to them, happened to the Barton's too. Did that mean it happened other places too? All over the world? No one knew what Thanos had in store when he snapped, but it couldn't have been anything minor.

"Clint, calm down, breathe. Where are you at?" Natasha heard Clint taking a few deep breaths, calming himself using the techniques he had been taught, so she took the opportunity to check on the rest of the team. Walking around she made sure everyone was alright, checking on injuries, which were as minimal as expected for fighting an alien race and titan. Natasha was most worried about Cap, who took a massive blow to the head from Thanos. But he was still sitting on the ground, his mouth silently moving without making any noise. Suddenly, Clint was back on the line and Natasha focused back to him.

" _We're still at home. We're holding it together pretty well, but I don't know how long either of us is going to stay that way. Where are you guys?"_ Clint said, his voice a little stronger as if he was regaining some control.

Natasha sucked in a breath. "Grab your gear, and bring Coop. You know the spare Quinjet we left on the farm take that. I'll text you the coordinates, and you need to get here as soon as possible. We're going to need all the help we can get."

Clint paused. " _Tasha? Where is_ here?"

"Wakanda."

The line was silent for a moment, and Natasha thought he had hung up. "Clint?"

" _I'm here, I'm grabbing my gear. I had it hidden away, so the FBI couldn't find it. I'll tell Cooper to pack a bag, I'm not leaving him alone and I don't know who I can leave him with._ " Natasha smiled through the phone.

"You rock, Barton. Love you."

" _Right back at you, Romanoff. I'll be there in a little bit. But first, I'm going to go check on a friend."_


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys, look at that, I'm back! I'm sorry it's been such a long time, but my school has been kind of insane and so I finally got another chapter up, a long one too because I felt so bad. WARNING! Technically, this chapter contains some spoilers for Ant-man and Wasp, so just a heads up, so if you haven't seen it, don't read.** **Now...**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **mfaerie32: Yep it's him! It will definitely be interesting, we have to figure out how to get him out!**

 **Frost Deejn: Thanks! I would think so too, I'll add that in later, thanks!**

 **Alrighty guys, hope you enjoy! See you soon!**

* * *

"Dad? Where are we going?" Cooper asked, adjusting the head headset over his ears. He sat in the passenger seat of the small Quinjet, while Clint sat across from him, flying the bird.

Clint looked over at his son, who still had trails of dried tears down his cheeks, and gave him a forced smile. "Do you remember Scott? I told you guys about him a little while ago when I was helping Uncle Steve, right?" Cooper nodded and Clint continued.

"Well, we need to go get your Uncle Scott and take a field trip. The Avengers need some help, and we need to go help them."

Cooper looked a little confused but excited. "We?"

This brought a small chuckle from Clint. "Yeah buddy, you're coming too. I don't want to leave you alone and I don't know where Mom-" His voice broke at the mention of his wife to his son and dropped the sentence there, turning back to watch the sky in front of them.

Cooper noticed and sniffled a few times, bringing his legs up into his seat with him. "What happened to them?" He asked quietly, just over a whisper.

Clint sighed and reached across to cup his son's cheek for a moment, running his thumb up and down his cheek to give him a watery smile. "I don't know, Coop. That's why we are going to meet everyone, they might have some more answers."

Cooper nodded, thinking intensely for a minute before a grin broken across his face. "Is Auntie Nat going to be there?"

Clint laughed loudly this time, ruffling Cooper's hair. "Of course she is. Everyone else will be there too! You can meet all of them." This wasn't the ideal situation, he would've loved his kids to meet all the Avengers under different circumstances, but Cooper's excitement was strong enough to put a smile on Clint's face.

Cooper leaned back in his seat and relaxed, a tiny smile on his face as Clint pushed the Quinjet faster, trying to get to New York as fast as possible.

* * *

Under house arrest, Clint had a lot of free time. The ankle monitor range had been extended so he could still work out on the farm, and he was grateful for it. When he wasn't playing with his kids or helping out Laura, he was out on the farm, cleaning, fixing, but especially shooting. He had hidden away his gear where the FBI couldn't find it and would bring out his bow sometimes, setting up targets in his barn and firing away. He couldn't let his skills get rusty even if he was retired. Every day, for possibly hours at a time, he would go out to the barn and shoot, letting his mind work out problems while he went through his regular routine. Draw, aim, release, repeat. Sometimes Cooper or Lila would come out and join him, and he would teach them how to properly load the bow, or how to aim and hit the target every time. Both of them had promising skill and seemed to enjoy it.

Two days before he got the call from Natasha, the FBI paid one final visit to his family, checking up on him and removing the ankle monitor. He was free. He had kissed his wife and held his youngest son, after tickling his two other kids.

That was three days ago now, and Clint didn't want to think that his kiss could possibly be the last one he ever would give to Laura. Or that would be the last time he ever his kids laugh and roll around with them on the floor. Or that he would never see their smiling faces again. Or that Cooper would be stuck without a mother and he would never see his siblings again. Every time Clint would see his child that was with him, he would be reminded of the ones that disappeared.

So Clint tried not to think about that as he pulled the car to the side of the road, parking in front of a large grey building. He stepped out of the car, holding onto the door and looking up to the roof, his free hand shielding his eyes from the glaring sun. He had watched the news where Scott had been the star of for a few days, and after everything was over Clint got in touch with him, and they had talked for a little bit. Thrown together in the mess that was called a civil war, Clint didn't get a chance to get to know him, but being forced together on the Raft, he started to like the single father.

The last phone call they had talked, Scott was talking how they found a place to settle out, and he had given Clint the address, in case he ever needed a place. Clint had accepted, and now he was glad he did.

Cooper slid out of the passenger seat and shut the door behind him, meeting up with his dad on the sidewalk. "Is this where Uncle Scott is?" Clint clapped his hand on Cooper's shoulder as they walked towards the glass double doors.

"I hope so buddy."

The inside of the building was black, and Clint squinted through the glass, trying to get a look inside. He couldn't see anything, and he tugged on the door handle, and it was unlocked. He held his hand out behind him, keeping Cooper behind him as he cautiously entered the dark building. Briefly, he touched his back, where his gun was tucked into his waistband. He had it as a precaution, but he didn't want to draw it in front of Cooper unless it was absolutely necessary. He turned around to face Cooper and pressed a finger to his lips, telling him to stay quiet. Cooper nodded, bright eyes wide in nervousness. A thump from further back in the building grabbed Clint's attention and he focused on that in less of a second, eyes looking through the black, using all of his other senses to try and figure what it was.

He felt a hand slid into his and looked down to Cooper, who had grabbed him in need of reassurance. Clint was conflicted. He didn't want to let Cooper out of his sight, but he also didn't need collateral if someone was there. He glanced over and saw a receptionist desk abandoned, and he led his son over there.

"Here, Coop, get down under here," he said, and Cooper crawled under the table, hidden by the wood. Clint crouched down and looked at his oldest, smiling. "Hey, I got to go check some things out, ok bud? I'll be right back, don't move."

Cooper shuddered slightly, but nodded. "Ok, dad."

Clint smiled, ruffling his hair. "That's my boy."

Clint felt he was signing his son's death warrant leaving him behind, but he would rather have the chance of him being hidden than stuck with him if there was someone here. Out of the child's prying eyes, Clint lifted up his t-shirt and silently slid his P226 out from his pants and cocked it, holding it in front of him. He wished he had a flashlight to have some sort of advantage, but at least he had a gun.

Quickly and efficiently, he cleared the front area, which consisted of a lounge type area and a few secretary desks and offices. His heart started to race when he reached cubicles in the back, where he had heard the noise come from. There were two rows, doubly stacked, which just meant a lot more places for a bad guy to hide. One by one, Clint pressed his back next to the entrance of each cubical, before swinging around, clearing each office space one by one.

As he finished clearing the first row and moved to the second, he started to feel a little more relaxed. Nobody seemed to be here. Suddenly, he jumped as another thud echoed out through the small hallway and he raced to the source. He ran up next to the entrance of one cubical, taking in deep breaths. He turned his head to get a quick look inside and he saw papers strewn across the floor, and Clint had found him.

In a fluid movement, he swung into the office, gun drawn, ready to face whoever was in there. When he found the culprit, he dropped his gun and relaxed. It was a cat, running around the office, making a mess of the papers. It stared up at him with unblinking eyes, almost as if it was annoyed that it interrupted it's playtime. Clint chuckled and finished clearing the rest of the offices, satisfied that no one was there. He walked back to the front, but kept an eye and gun out to make sure nothing else came up.

"Cooper? You can come out bud," Clint said, walking causally until he didn't hear an answer.

"Cooper? Cooper?" He shouted, now sprinting to the front, gun drawn regretting his decisions to leave his son there. He reached the desk and looked underneath it, where there was no boy. Suddenly he heard a crunching and a bag opening, two noises a cat couldn't make on it's own. It came from behind a tall sign not far from the desk, and Clint stalked to it, gun ready.

He whipped around, gun in front to fight off any attacker that had taken his son, only to find Cooper sitting on the floor with a bag of chips, feeding them to the cat that he had found earlier. Quickly, he hide the gun behind his back before Cooper could see it, and he crouched down next to his kid.

"Cooper, you scared me. I told you not to move," He said with a sigh and Cooper frowned.

"Sorry dad, but I saw this cat, and he looked hungry. So I found this bag of chips, and he liked them." He pulled out a few more chips and fed them to the black cat, who ate them greedily. "I named him Tango."

Clint chuckled. "Tango?"

"Yeah, I thought it fit."

"Alright, well say bye to Tango, and grab your backpack. We gotta go find Scott." Cooper looked downcast at the cat, who purred and rubbed up against his side. Cooper scratched behind its neck whispering to it before standing up and following his dad.

Taking the staircase to each floor, Clint found it peculiar that each one was completely empty. Did Scott not have anyone working for him? It was a Thursday, in the regular work week. It was just odd. They didn't start hearing anything until the got to the staircase that led to the roof. As they approached the door out to the roof, there was a humming coming from out there.

"Stand behind that wall, Coop, I'm going to check it out," Clint commanded and Cooper nodded, but kept his head around the corner to watch. He saw his dad pull a gun out of the back of his waistband and gasped slightly, eyes widening. Dad had told him to stay put, but Cooper wanted to watch. So as soon as Clint was out of the door, Cooper tiptoed to the door and opened it a crack, watching his dad check the roof, clearing every corner of it. It was fascinating to watch. Knowing nobody was up there, Cooper saw the gun go back into the pants, and that was Cooper's clue to go back behind the wall. Clint popped the door open and waved for Cooper to come up, and together they investigated the mysterious van just sitting on the roof.

"What is it?" Cooper asked, walking around the van before stopping in front of the machine hanging out of the back.

Clint grabbed Cooper's shoulder and dragged him backward. "I… don't know. Don't stand too close, I don't know what it does." The weird machine as yellow and orange, and a rectangle, with lights that were big the front and seemed to get smaller as it was back. It seemed to be drawing them forward, and Clint didn't want accidently get sucked into it.

As they were walking backward, something crunched under his boot and he looked down, seeing three piles of black ashes on the ground. He was even more confused. Crouching down, Clint picked up a few of them and rubbed them between his fingers. They weren't really like ashes, more like...dust. He had seen this before. Looking closer, he recognized where he had found it. On the floor in his house, where he had lost his two children and wife.

"Oh my god," Clint gasped and dropped the dust he had been holding. Those were _people_. "Coop, get back, don't touch the dust."

Cooper was fiddling with a stand that had a handheld radio hanging off a cord. Cooper smiled as he pretended to fiddle with the buttons. He picked up the radio and held down the talk button, pretending he was a spaceman.

"Houston, this is Spaceship 123, we found aliens on Mars, repeat, we found aliens on Mars!"

Clint looked over and saw Cooper messing with it, and laughed but too the mike from him. "Don't play with that, we don't know who's this is."

Clint was about to put the radio down when static burst from the receiver, and a tinny voice emitted from the box.

" _Hope? Hank? Hello, is anyone there? Please pick up, this is not funny guys!"_

Clint almost dropped the radio in shock, but he quickly responded, holding down the talk button and calling out a name in disbelief.

"Scott, is that you?"

" _Yeah, yeah it's me. Thank god. Who's up there?"_

"It's me, Barton, and my kid. Where are you?"

" _I'm in the quantum tunnel."_

Clint sighed. "English, Scott. We don't know what that is."

" _That big weird looking machine in the back of the van, I'm in that."_

"Ok. So that's a quantum tunnel." Clint looked around at the equipment, still slightly confused. "Can you get out?"

Clint could hear sarcastic laughing over the line. " _You think I'd be out already if I could? Hope, Janet and Hank were supposed to drag me out. By the why, where are they?"_

Clint looked at piles of dust on the ground, and decided to save that conversation for later. "Uh, right now let's focus on getting you out. You don't happen to know how to do that, do you?"

" _Maybe. I've tried everything I can think of in here, but I think it'll be pretty simple."_

Clint smiled at Cooper, who was fascinated by the whole exchange. " _That's good. I can do simple."_

Scott thought back to when he first went in. When he turned around to look, Hope was giving a countdown, her hand on a lever. The machines were still all on, because he was still inside and not floating away.

" _Ok, Clint, up there in the middle there should be a lever looking thing. It's metal with some more buttons."_

Clint found it and his hand hovered over it. "Ok, I have it. What now?"

Scott took a deep breath. " _Pull it. That's how Hope got me down here, it should bring me back up."_

"Should?"

" _Just pull it!"_

"Here we go," Clint mumbled under his breath and pulled the lever down. The pulsing coming from the machine seemed to grow bigger, and suddenly a tiny dot in the back grew bigger under a man was standing in front of them, and the machine turned off.

Scott popped his helmet off and took a deep breath, dropping to the ground in exhaustion. Clint ran to his side, kneeling down by him.

"You alright?" Clint asked, and Scott shook his head.

"Not really. That felt like a long time in there. How long was it, three hours? Four?" Scott asked, dropping the container in his hand next to him.

Clint thought back. "When did you head in?"

"It was around four o'clock. Monday."

Clint's eyes widened and Scott was concerned. "Scott. It's Thursday. You've been in there for four _days_."


	12. Chapter 12

**Wow, guys, I know it's been a super long time, but I won NaNoWriMo! You can check out my story, Crossfire, on my Fiction Press account, I'll be slowly updating that again! Anyway, now I'm back and raring to go! I also just watched the trailer for Avengers 4, so if you haven't, I recommend you go watch that like right now. I practically cried.**

 **Anyway, this was one of the first things I wanted to update because it's been so long, and I was in the mood for some Clint angst, so you got some! Everyone will meet up very soon, and then the action will _really_ start... :)**

 **mfaerie32: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, it will be interesting to see how he got out, I'm excited to see it!**

 **Alrighty, guys, I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Please review if you get a chance, those really make my day and motivate me to write faster ;)**

* * *

" _Four days,_ " Scott whispered breathlessly running a gloved hand through his hair, his voice and body shaking. He sat on the ground, back up against the van silently mouthing the words over and over again. Clint kneeled in front of him, his hand on Scott's shoulder while Cooper watched wide-eyed behind them.

The time frame didn't make sense in Scott's head. It felt like he was trapped in there for _hours_ , not days. Hope had pulled the lever. He had gone, pulling a little joke and not answering for a few seconds. None of them had found it very funny. So he continued on gathering the particles they needed and called in when he gathered them all. Nobody had answered, and he thought they were pulling the same prank, and he laughed.

However, it didn't seem as funny when there still no answer. He had run through scenarios while he floated there in quantum endlessness. Maybe the Avengers had an emergency, and they had to go and help. But they would have grabbed him. Because he was an Avenger, right? He stopped thinking about that one and focused on others. Maybe someone had attacked them and they can't pull him out just yet. Maybe the building they were on blew up. Maybe dinosaurs came back and a pterodactyl came by and ate them.

Nothing was very promising, so Scott tried to shut his eyes, attempting to sleep. Sleep never came so he tried to pass time thinking about Cassie. The love of his life. He needed to get back soon, so he could go and hug her and never let go.

Then he heard static, someone talking over the radio. Then there he was, sitting on the roof with Hawkeye and his kid, as they told them he had been stuck in there for days. It was a hard concept to get his head wrapped around on. He sucked in a deep breath, and Clint squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. Scott opened his eyes to the concerned ones of Clint and forced a fake smile.

Clint saw through it easily, but nodded, giving the man a hand up. "We should go. Nat needs us in Wakanda, that seems to be where everyone else is too." Scott nodded numbly. Cooper watched this exchange as they drove the car back to where his dad had parker the jet and decided he needed to do something.

Cooper and Scott waited inside the quinjet as Clint walked around the outside, checking the engine and the wheels, anything to reassure himself that it wouldn't stop working halfway through the flight. Cooper slid his backpack around so it was in front of him, and gently opened the biggest pocket. Laying comfortable on top of all his things, laid Tango, the small black and white kitten he had found at the office.

"Uncle Scott, hold Tango, he'll help you feel better." Cooper pulled out the sleepy kitty and held him out towards Scott, who smiled genuinely as the kitten meowed at him.

"Thanks, buddy, he does help," Scott said and ruffled Cooper's hair, the kitty safe in his arms. Clint walked back on the quinjet, eyes widening when he saw the cat he specifically told Cooper to leave. He opened his mouth to say something about it, but he watched as Cooper and Scott were so much happier when the cat was there, so he didn't say anything.

Everyone got strapped in and Clint flew off, head bopping to the beat of music pounding through his headset. Cooper sat in the passenger seat, attempting to hold a pair of the headsets over the ears of Tango. Scott said quietly in the back, the normally bouncy and joyful man quiet and reserved.

Clint turned the music up louder, trying to block the voices in his mind as he set a course for Wakanda, tears stinging the corner of his eyes when the music didn't work. He turned them all the way up, blasting the music so loud the others could hear it. He gritted his teeth and pushed the throttle further, speeding up the small jet. It wasn't working, nothing was working. The voices couldn't stop reminding him of his wife, and his kids. They were gone, disappeared, dusted. He stared straight ahead, trying to focus on the clouds and the ground in front of him, and for the love of God, not to look at...

He couldn't help but turn his head and look at his oldest son, seemingly the one left. As the first tear dare sneak a trail down his face, Clint jabbed the autopilot button, and ripped off his headset, slamming it in his seat. Cooper looked up in surprise as his father practically sprinted for the back of the quinjet, startling Scott and Tango as well.

Clint reached the only secluded part of the quinjet right before the tears started to fall. He pressed his hands up against his ears and sunk to his knees, sobbing as the voices grew louder and louder. His body shook as he sucked in breath after breath, trying to regain some sort of composure in the middle of a panic attack. His voices taunted him, bringing him down.

 _You failed your family. You're useless and stupid. They're all gone because of you. It's your fault_

Clint slammed his head back, hitting the metal wall behind him harder than he intended to, and stared at the ceiling, trying to keep the tears and voices at bay. The voices persisted, with a growl and fit of rage he ripped out the two hearing aids hanging behind his ears and threw them at the opposite wall. If he couldn't hear, the voices couldn't bother him. How wrong he was. As soon as the hearing aids shattered on the ground, the voices grew louder. At least before he had other noises around him to help focus himself, but now he couldn't hear those either. He was trapped with his voices who battered at him, throwing everything they had at him.

His eyes wandered over the walls, trying to focus something different as his hands went back up to their position over his ears. He found the oxygen masks and first aid kits, extra parachutes strapped to the walls. To his horror, his eyes lingered a little too long on the cargo door, when he suddenly felt footsteps vibrate through the metal floor. He stood up immediately, fists out in front, instincts sticking him in the fight mode.

Cooper was walking in carefully, eyes wide as he watched his dad, hands out by his side, fingers splayed to show empty palms. His parents had talked to him before if something happened. His mom explained to him that with the work his dad did, sometimes he could get scared, like really scared. Cooper had only seen it once before at the barn when his dad was sleeping on the couch and out of nowhere a thunderstorm came and a bolt of lightning struck the ground not far from them, creating one of the loudest noises Cooper had ever heard. Nathaniel screamed and Cooper watched his dad leap off the couch, eyes wide in panic and ready to fight off anyone. Laura ran into the room, seeing what happened and held her hands out and open, getting in Clint's view, and talking quietly to him. He calmed down a few minutes later, shooting Cooper a smile and shared a laugh, trying to blow off what happened.

Clint dropped his hands but kept them at his side, clenching his hand over and over again, as father and son faced off in the back corner of the quinjet. His heart pounded in his chest and Clint couldn't seem to get enough air. He especially couldn't look at his own son, staring at the floor in front of him.

Cooper walked forward carefully, watching his dad the entire time. "Dad, are you having one of those things mom talks about?" He asked quietly, frowning when he didn't seem to hear. Cooper glanced to the side and saw the broken hearing aids. Cooper waved his hands slightly, and for the first time, Clint made eye contact with his son.

" _Breathe, dad, breathe,"_ Cooper signed, realizing his dad couldn't hear him. Clint took in a shaking breath and exhaling it.

" _In, one, two, three, four,"_ The boy signed, and Clint breathed in for four seconds.

" _Hold it, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven."_ Clint held his breath and shut his eyes for those seven precious seconds.

" _Out, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight."_ Clint released the breath he was holding and sighed, his one breathing becoming a little bit easier.

" _Do you need anything, dad?"_ Cooper asked, wanting to rush in for a hug, his own tears springing to his eyes. He took a step forward, but held back, remembering his dad didn't like being touched when something like this was happening.

Clint's brain finally started to clear up, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward, giving Cooper a sad smiled. " _No, I'm ok. Thank you."_

Clint saw the little movements of Cooper holding back, and Clint sighed and kneeled down, opening his arms up into a hug. Cooper ran to him, practically jumping into his arms and burying his head into his dad's shoulder. Clint was still twitchy, still reeling from the effects of the attack and being touched was not the best thing, but his kid came first. Clint had grown up basically without a father, and he wasn't going to do that to his kids.

" _Let's go to Wakanda, huh?"_ Clint signed with a smile, wiping away the last few tears from his own eyes. He grabbed his broken hearing aids and shoved them in his pocket, nodding to Scott to let him know that he was ok, and sat back down in the pilot seat ready to go.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys, sorry for the break in posting, I just came back from the most amazing vacation and it was awesome! This should be one of the last slower chapters, so the action will kick back up soon, I promise!**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **Frost Deejn: Yes, I understand, sorry I didn't elaborate enough in the story, but still dealing with the aftereffects, he didn't trust himself to speak so he stuck with the nonverbal while he continued to calm down. Sorry I didn't make that clear enough!**

 **mfaerie32: I try to bring in Clint's deafness in as much as possible because I think it's not recognized nearly enough, and I believe it is really important. Besides, I love Clint and I think he is such a great character! :)**

 **Alrighty y'all, I hope you enjoy and I will be back soon!**

* * *

Okoye, trying to deal with what had happened herself, helped Natasha gather everyone up and lead them into the palace, up into the main room where the council met. Ramonda was pacing behind the throne, her headdress resting on its arm and her long hair hanging down her back. She wrung her hands together nervously and when she heard noise she whipped around, grabbed a spear, and pointed it out at the intruders, ready to fight them off. When she saw it was Okoye, she sighed and dropped it, anxiously waiting for news.

"Okoye," she exclaimed, running to her general, "My son!"

Okoye looked down and shook her head. Ramonda gasped, and Okoye grabbed her arms, looking back up. "Your majesty, what about Shuri?"

Ramonda looked off to the left. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, keeping back the emotions that tried to wash over her. We fought off the creatures, and the next thing I know, I look over and she is… falling apart, pieces of her are floating off, like dust. What happened?!"

Natasha stepped forward, bowing her head respectfully before speaking. "Your majesty, we believe Thanos used the infinity gauntlet to take out half of the universe. People, creatures, nature, half of it, gone."

Ramonda pressed her lips tightly together, trying to process this information. "And where did that half of the population go?"

Natasha sighed and forced a grim smile. "That's what we are going to work on. Getting them back." Suddenly an alarm sounded through the palace and everyone looked alert, clenching their fists and dropping into defensive positions for another fight.

" _Unidentified aircraft entering airspace, repeat, unidentified aircraft entering airspace,"_ the warning rang out, and Okoye tapped one of the beads on her bracelet, bringing up a live video of a quinjet flying around the force field covering Wakanda.

Natasha's lips twitched up in a copy of a genuine smile when she saw the jet and tapped Okoye's shoulder. "Let him in, he's with us." Okoye looked at her with her eyebrows raised, but lowered the forcefield and let the jet in. Less than a minute later, the quinjet could be heard above the palace and touched down on the landing pad. Natasha excused herself and ran down to the front steps of the palace where the Avengers had walked up before the fight started.

The quinjet door opened and three boys walked out the back. Scott came down first, still in his Ant-Man suit and looking shell-shocked. Clint followed behind him in dark jeans and a blue t-shirt, his quiver and bow slung on his back with some unfamiliar objects as well. The thing that caught Natasha's attention most was the younger boy that seemed to be permanently attached to Clint's hip, hiding half his face in the man's shirt and holding a tight grip. His eyes were wide and filled with wonder as he stared at the new place until they rest on Natasha.

"Auntie Nat!" Cooper shouted and sprinted forward from behind his dad, running into her open arms and hugging her tightly. Even being a ten-year-old boy, Natasha picked him up and held him as he buried his head into her neck. "You changed your hair," he mumbled through her shirt, and she chuckled softly. Her fiery red hair had been dyed into blonde after she went on the run with Cap after the civil war.

"Yeah, I did." Natasha let him back down to the ground and got on her knees to look him in the eyes. "Are you ok, Cooper?" His eyes dropped to his shoes and his mouth twitched, not saying anything.

Natasha rubbed his head and gave him a small smile. "It's ok to be scared Cooper, I'm scared too."

Cooper looked up and he looked shocked. "Auntie Nat never gets scared," he whispered, and Natasha chuckled.

"Now, who told you that?"

"Dad did," he said with a small grin, and Natasha patted him on the shoulder and walked over to Cooper's dad.

"How's it going, Clint?" She asked, trying to ignore the dried tear stains that were clear on his face, and pulled him into a tight hug.

He gave a crumpled smile after reading her lips and sighed. "It's going. As soon as I find that sonuva-" he shot a glance to his son that was hanging around close by, "gun that did this and stick a few arrows through his eye I'll be ok."

Natasha gave him a grim smile, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. "We'll get him, Clint. We'll get your family back." She watched him as he stared at her lips and switched to signing. " _Did your hearing aids break again?"_

Clint smiled sheepishly and pulled the broken purple hearing aids out of his pocket and Natasha poked at them. " _Nothing Banner can't fix. Everyone's inside, let's go."_ Cooper caught Natasha's signs and under, so he grabbed his dad's hand and stayed close to Clint. Scott was petting Tango and cooing over him when he looked up and saw that they were walking inside the palace without. He sprinted forward and caught up with them, putting Tango back inside Cooper's backpack and dusting his suit free of cat hair.

Cooper was amazed by the building they were walking inside of, it looked like the buildings he saw on his sci-fi movies. There was so much technology, one of the rooms them looked like a lab that could build robots. Cooper wished he had his toys, it would be so cool to play in that room. Maybe Lila could bring her… Before he could stop himself he thought of his sister and tears welled in his eyes. He was trying not to think about her because it made him cry, and he didn't want to cry.

Clint heard sniffling and he ruffled Cooper's head, bringing a slight smile to the boy's face. The three boys followed Natasha into the throne room, where the rest of the remaining Avengers stood.

Scott first took notice of how little he knew about all the people. He had been a little surprised when the Black Widow had come down to get them with new hair color and suit but when he saw Cap standing off to the side, running his hands through his hair and muttering to himself. He knew some of the other people, Black Widow, Arrow guy-who turned out to be Clint and Cap. The remaining people he had no idea who they were.

From behind Clint, Cooper stared wide-eyed at all the people around him, almost not believing he was there. His Auntie Nat walked up to a tall bald lady who was holding a long spear and whispered in her ear.

"Your majesty," Natasha said, bowing her head again, "If permitted, I would like to make introductions before we work on a plan of attack." Ramonda nodded, and Natasha started going around and naming her teammates.

"Captain America, Dr. Banner or the Hulk, Thor, War Machine, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, and…" The little creature that had been standing off to the side, staring solely at the gun that was almost as big as him.

"My name's Rocket, you bunch of morons." Everyone was silent for a minute before Thor added in with a whisper.

"He lost his friend, Tree." They nodded and Rocket heard Thor loud and clear, but he didn't make any comment, just continued to stare down and his gun and make sure everything was working perfectly. He wasn't going to lose Groot a second time, he just wasn't.

Okoye finished introductions for herself and Ramonda, and Natasha looked towards Steve, discouraged by the sight. He was still reserved and with himself. Natasha sighed and ran a hand through her hair, finally realizing how _tired_ she was. They had just fought the Titan no more than a few hours ago, they were all exhausted.

Natasha looked around the room, making eye contact with every person in the room, getting their attention and showing a grim smile. "Let's make a game plan."


	14. Chapter 14

**Wow, a new chapter the next day? That's new. I'm pushing really hard to crank out this story because Endgame comes out in April, and I know it's like four months away, but with how crazy life has been, I really need to focus on this and get it done. So, here is the next chapter! Enjoy, guys!**

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"Any luck up there?" Tony grunted as he laid on his back underneath the wrecked ship. Wires and makeshift tools laid around him, and he kept his Iron Man suit attached to his back so he had a sort of covering. When he and Nebula had first found the abandoned ship, Tony's first thought was that it was going no harder than fixing a car. He was a genius, and he had dealt with alien technology before, so it would be a piece of cake, right?

A few thumps and creaks from the ship deck above him signaled the Nebula was working on untangling herself from the mangled inside of the ship. Tony and Nebula had wandered around Titan, Tony's arm slung over Nebula until he had regained some of his energy and could walk on his own. Walking was also much easier on the alien planet, the gravitational pull was completely out of whack, and they could practically bounce along. The desolate planet offered nothing for food or water, and Nebula's ship-the Necrocraft she had stolen on her way to Titan-had been destroyed when she flew the ship into Thanos, but the Guardian's ship would've still been on the planet.

The mismatched pair had wandered around until they found the Guardian's ship, buried underneath a pile of large rocks. Tony had sighed and dropped down on a smaller pile of rocks not too far from it, hissing quietly when his side starting stinging, sending waves of agony up his side. The microbots he had dropped inside would help keep away infection and given time, potentially closing the wound completely. But Tony didn't have that time, and he couldn't stop and rest like he was supposed to. There was so much that needed to be done, starting with getting off the planet.

Nebula jumped down, the gravity making her float down until she dropped down into a crouch next to the under part of the ship. The plate that covered the inside of her forearm was open and wires were exposed, minus the few extremely thin ones that were being used to hold Tony together.

"I think I've got most of the inside fixed up, we're going to have an issue starting it up. I have a solution for it, but it's not enjoyable, and if I can avoid it, I can." Nebula had done most of the heavy lifting of the rocks that covered up the Guardian's ship, which Nebula remembered Quill had named the Benatar. Tony had asked if it had any relation to Pat Benatar, a singer he was vaguely familiar with, but he was asking the wrong person.

When they finished clearing the Benatar free of rocks, it was a mess, but fixable. Tony had immediately gone for a look under the proverbial hood, while Nebula focused on finding a power source and getting it back up into the air.

Tony had checked out the engines, which he was proud to find was something he could work with. The somewhat-alien ship's engines and wings were not far from his own ships, so it was easy to figure out what was wrong. ' _I just wish I had some proper tools…'_ he thought before he caught himself. There were so many other things he wished for right then. _Home, Pepper, food and water, the kid…_ Tony shook his head and focused back on the work in front of him, nothing thinking about all he could've done and what he would change if he could do it again.

So he turned to wire and metal, equations that he could fall back on and let his mind sink into the formulas. The twin engines in the back with three turbines each were his first stop, making sure nothing damaged the turbines. While the ship reminded him of his own and ones he had seen on earth, a lot of writing and pieces were alien, throwing a wrench in the gears for Tony. But he starting poking and prodding, messing with the wires and the plating, completely immersed in the technology, letting his mind go free.

Nebula had pried opened the back door to the Benatar, and stepped to the inside of the ship, relieved that most of the inside was spared. The windshield in the front was cracked, but it would hold for the one trip they needed to make. Wires dangled from the ceiling and occasional sparks flew from them, but as long as they avoided them, they would be alright. Nebula crawled through every part of the ship, checking the walls and interior to look for holes and things that could keep their ship from flying. They didn't want to make it to space and suddenly get sucked into the vastness of outer space. She was satisfied when she found none and deemed it able to fly, as soon as Stark checked out the engines.

The next problem Nebula had used multitasking. She tried to put off thinking about her sister for as long as possible, but she couldn't avoid it forever. When she had first found out what Thanos had done to her sister, she was so overcome by rage nothing else even phased her. She had hopped on the first ship she could get and flew it straight into Thanos. It wasn't the best plan, but running on pure anger, she couldn't think of really anything else. While her mind ran through those thoughts and what she would do to Thanos when she found him.

The energy was her next biggest problem. Unless Stark had enough reserve in his suit to power up the Benatar and keep some for his suit, there wasn't going to be enough to keep them going all the way to Earth. Nebula hadn't been lying when she said there was another solution, but it wasn't a pretty one, and she didn't want to do unless it was necessary. She had plenty of power stored in herself, and hooking herself up to the ship plus a little bit of Stark's would give them enough to get it off the ground and to Earth. When Stark had told her about his trip with a few of the other Avengers, it seemed like a short trip and could be done with the little energy they had. However, they were in the Andromeda galaxy and Earth was in the Milky Way, but thanks to a few shortcuts, Nebula could get them through.

Standing back outside, Nebula watched as Stark finished up his work and suddenly pushed out from underneath the ship, standing up with a grunt and staring at her, a wild look in his eye. "How are we breathing?" He asked suddenly and caught Nebula completely caught off guard.

"What?"

"How are we breathing? We're on a different planet, in a different solar system and galaxy, except we're breathing just fine. There's no food or water, but we can breathe?"

"Well, I-"

"I know you have a different composition and don't have the same anatomy as me or regular humans, so that makes sense, but I don't have anything. Even Quill is like half-alien or something, so that kind of make sense, but I can't tell. Temperature is relatively the same, so that is an indication, but there isn't anything else that makes sense why that would be…"

Nebula crossed her arms and let him finished while she stared him down, annoyed by being interrupted one too many times. "Are you finished?" Tony nodded sheepishly and Nebula continued.

"I don't know the science-y part of it, but Titan used to look a lot like what I think Earth was. There were blue skies and a lot of plants. Lots of plants, trees, grass, things like that."

"Plants have chlorophyll, which can make oxygen, so therefore breathing!" Tony paused and looked around, wiping blood and dirt-stained hand across his forehead. To save power, his suit was reduced to a glove, making it as small as possible while he worked across the ship. Telling her the status of the outside of the ship, all good for a short while, just enough to make it back to earth. Tony followed Nebula back inside, closing up the doors of the ship and settling down in one of the chairs to take a look at his wound, making sure all the stitches were still there. Nebula hovered over the control panel, double checking through her work before taking in a deep breath and turning to Tony.

"Does your suit have enough energy to power this bad boy up?" Nebula asked, crossing her fingers behind her back. She watched in silence as he gave a few voice commands to his glove and a holographic screen popped in his view.

"No, I can give it about half its power but nothing to get it up in the air for a long time." Nebula was expecting this answer and let out the breath she had been holding, nodding. She knew what she needed to do, even though she wasn't looking forward to it one bit.

"Ok, hook up your glove here, and when I give the signal, give what you can, and I'll give the rest," Nebula instructed, handing him a few wires that he plugged into the glove with a confused look on his face.

"Where's the rest of the energy coming from?"

"Trust me," Nebula said with a grim smile, and opened up her forearm panel once again, connecting the remaining wires to herself. She had done this move once before, with Yondu on the Guardian's other ship, but this would need more than two times the energy she used for that one. She had endured endless torture by the hands of Thanos, but this time, she prayed that she would stay awake long enough to get it done. For the first time in her life, she prayed that she wouldn't pass out. She shot a look at Tony as her hand hovered over the button that would get the ship the energy it needed, and he nodded.

"Go!" With her yell, Nebula smashed the button and Tony let the wires suck energy from his glove while an ear-splitting scream broke through the alien air. Nebula screamed as the ship sucked up her energy, the very thing that was helping keep her alive. Tony panicked as he scrambled on what to do, so he reacted on his first thought: shut off the ship. He went to hit the button to stop the torture for Nebula when her own hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, keeping him from hitting it.

"Don't… a little… longer…" Nebula grit out between screams, keeping one eye on the power level of the ship.

"Now!" Just when she thought she was going to pass out, Nebula watched the power bar creep up to an acceptable level and with that Tony hit the button, stopping the transference. Nebula flopped back into her seat, utterly exhausted and didn't get the wires out of her arm before her eyes rolled back into her head. Tony unhooked himself and gently did the same to Nebula, setting her limp arm into her lap. He glanced at the ship's panel, ready to fly it and get out of here, but he looked back down at Nebula, who knew how to actually fly it.

"You did good, kid."


	15. Chapter 15

**Whew. For a short chapter, this took a lot of thinking. Well, anyway, here is the next update, and I don't really have much to say, so I hope you enjoy!**

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The warning bells rang throughout the palace again, the same ones that went off when Clint had arrived with Scott and his son in tow. The tense silence between the remaining members of the Avengers was broke by slight commotion.

"Who could it be now?" Rhodey asked, his helmet off while the rest of the suit was on, the only thing that gave him mobility. They were circled around a table that the council occasionally used, whatever resources that they had on it.

Clint had talked with Bruce about his hearing aids, and Ramonda had allowed them to use the lab, voice catching halfway through her sentence when she walked past Shuri's station. Bruce was unfamiliar with the technology, not more than mere hours ago he was bested by a teenager when it came to Vision inner workings. Luckily, before the Avengers had broken up, he had fixed up Clint's hearing aids multiple times, so he knew the designs inside and out. With a curious Cooper watching, Bruce had fixed the small aids quickly and they returned with the rest of the Avengers.

Steve had slowly started to rejoin the group, wanting to focus more on getting a game plan to find their friends and Bucky than mourning over the loss of his friend a second time. Everything before seemed to happen in slow motion, and nothing he did made it go back to regular speed. It was like he was stuck, and he couldn't fast forward. He was stuck on replay, the same scenes playing over and over in his head. He was proud of Natasha for stepping up, he truly was. He thought, if something ever happened to him, the Avengers would be in good hands with her around. Then again, there wasn't much of the Avengers anymore, was there. Was it his fault? He didn't know. What he did know that he needed to get back into the game as soon as possible, so he could bring everyone back home as soon as possible. So when everyone circled around the table, he joined them, listening to Natasha and Okoye trade off information and occasionally providing more.

Now the screen on top of the table was lit up with a screen showing a picture of the outside force field, and a ship trying to enter it.

"Who are they?" Cap asked, and everyone shook their heads until Rocket's head poked up above the table with a small gasp.

"I know them! Let 'em in!" Rocket shouted, jumping off the chair he had been standing on to see the table and sprinting to the door.

"Who is it?" Natasha yelled back for the third time.

"Quill!"

Rocket couldn't stop the rare smile that spread across his face, and he slung his gun-which was almost as big as him across his back and ran as fast as he could to the front entrance of the palace. He had gotten lost a few times, so by the time he got to the entrance, Quill's ship, the Benatar, was touching down on the ground. Rocket waited just outside of the landing pad, his foot tapping impatiently, trying to stop grinning.

He would never admit it, but he was so excited. After Groot disappeared, he would give just about anything to see the rest of the Guardians, which he had split from when he went with Thor and Groot to get Stormbreaker. He'd insult and call them names as soon as they walked out, but it was his form of affection.

So when the backdoor of the ship hissed and started to open, Rocket was practically jumping out of his skin.

"Welcome back you mor-" Rocket's greeting was cut off when instead of seeing three people, he only saw two. Tony and Nebula stepped off the ship, both of them holding each other up in some way. Rocket's smiled wavered, but he didn't give up yet. He looked around the other two and ran up the ramp to get a quick look around inside himself. The smile finally dropped from his face when it was completely empty, no sign of his friends.

"Where's Quill? Gamora?" Tony and Nebula looked down towards the ground, and with each name is voice spiraled downward into desperation. "Mantis? Drax?" Tony was staring with his mouth slightly open at the odd sign of a talking raccoon, while Nebula was still looking at her feet, avoiding Rocket's gaze.

"Where are they?" Rocket yelled, sliding the gun off his back and flipping off the safety, aiming directly at Nebula's head. "What did you do to them, you witch!"

Nebula's hands flew up in the air and she took a few steps backward to avoid getting hit in the face by Rocket's gun, and Tony suddenly found the courage to speak. "Woah, woah, hold up there a second buddy, put the gun down," he ordered, mustering up what seemed to be the last of his strength to make him sound as commanding as possible.

"Not when _she_ did something to them!" Rocket growled, and to Tony, he was getting too close to comfort. It was better just to rip off the bandaid fast and get it over with.

"Nebula didn't do anything!" For a moment there, Tony thought Rocket was going to whip the gun around and aim it at him but continued when he didn't. "We were up on Titan, all of us. We fought Thanos and lost, and he left. We tried to figure a way off the planet when suddenly they just started to… to… disappear. Like dust, everyone just kind of faded away." Tony's voice broke at the end of the sentence when he remembered everyone who he had just lost.

Rocket's mouth opened like he was about to say something but nothing came out. Tony could've sworn that tears filled Rocket's eyes before he hung his head and holstered his gun. His nose twisted and his little hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, trying to keep emotions under control. _They're just people, people leave me all the times, it's normal. They mean nothing... they mean_ everything _to me._

"Sorry, Nebula," Rocket mumbled under his breath, and Nebula nodded, and if she had been able to, she guessed tears would be in her eyes as well. Rocket thought it was bad when he lost Groot for the second time, but he just lost his entire _family_ in one shot because one big idiot wanted to rule the world.

"Not on my watch," Rocket swore passionately, his teeth bared, turning on his heel and stalking back inside. Tony and Nebula looked at each other apologetically before following the paths inside the palace, their minds nearly empty due to exhaustion. So exhausted, it didn't even click that the rest of the Avengers would actually be in the palace until he looked up and they were all standing there, exhausted, bloodied, and determined. He was almost excited to see everyone until a voice called out that left him in shock.

" _Tony?_ "

"Steve?"


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey all, here is the reunion we've all be waiting for! I've got a final plan for this story, now the only trouble is actually _writing it_ ;) Here you go!**

 **Writer-at-Heart0: Here it is! I hope it's to your expectations! I'm waiting for the one that happens in the movie, I want to see what they do with it!**

 **Alrighty, guys, here it is, I'll be back soon with more chapters for you, so enjoy!**

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It took the two men a moment to recognize the fact that they were _there_ , standing in front of each other, face to face. Steve had changed a lot from the last time Tony had saw him: his bright blue eyes were hardened and his face was tanned and weathered, the normally clean shaven face had a dark brown beard, signs of being on the run. When was the last time Tony had seen Steve? On a video, breaking out the rest of his side of the Avengers from the Raft. It seemed like years, and it had been.

Tony couldn't figure out he felt. Right before some of Thanos stupid crew came down to New York when he was with Doctor Strange, Tony was about to use the old flip phone that he carried around everywhere to call Steve before screams and explosions caught his attention. Throughout the times when they were fighting, sometimes he wished that he would pick up the phone and just _call_ him, just to get some extra support. He should've because they desperately needed it. But every time he thought about that, possibly calling their so-called fearless captain, he thought of Zemo and the last fight in Siberia. When Zemo had shown him the video, the last video of his parents alive, and it should that Steve's best friend was the one that killed him, Tony had lost it.

He had aimed everything he had at Bucky but also set it down he saw tears in the brainwashed soldier. _It wasn't his fault, he didn't know what he was doing, it was HYDRA_ , his the voices told him but Tony was stuck on another fact.

" _Did you know?"_ he had whispered, turning to the man he saw a friend, a brother, someone who he could trust. When Steve had looked to the floor, that perception shattered. This wasn't a friend, a brother, and definitely not someone he could trust. That was the end of Tony's patience, and he had fought that brother.

So seeing Steve now, right in front of him, when the last time he saw him in person, Steve had brought down his shield right in the middle of his arc reactor, and Tony had seen the pure rage in Steve. Tony wanted to forgive him, he wanted to go back to the way they were, but he didn't know if they ever could get back to that. They were both different people now, and the Captain America shield that Steve had thrown at Tony's feet was sitting behind Tony's desk, a daily reminder of what they used to be and what they would never be again.

Seeing Tony there, an ache rose up in his chest for the brother he used to know, before everything with the Sokovia accords. Sure, Tony thought of things differently than Steve did and they had their disagreements, but they were both strong-willed men. So strong-willed in fact that they split when government control came into play. Steve had been fine with until, up until the last fight where he had hurt Bucky. Blasted off the metal arm that had been forced onto him by HYDRA. Hurting Bucky was crossing the line in Steve's mind, so they split there.

Now, seeing Tony again, a resemblance of a smile crossed his face and he just wanted to get things back to normal. He missed Tony, and nearly every day on the run, Steve checked his own phone, hoping that Tony would call, and some days even debated if he would call Tony. But then days stretched onto years without a call, and Steve started to realize maybe Tony was getting along without them. Maybe Tony really didn't need them. So Steve stopped looking at the phone, stopped waiting for a call, and focused on keeping him and his team safe and underneath the nose of the government.

Steve's mouth opened to say something, but it shut again when the words never came out. Tony wanted to say something, anything, but words were evading him. Unbeknownst to them, even through all the struggled and the hatred and seemingly unforgivable secrets, they shared the same thought at the same time:

" _He'll know what to do."_

Everyone was watching from the side, keeping conversations low and continuing to work on plans, while their eyes were watching every movement of the two heroes. They needed both of them, working together, to have a chance to stop Thanos.

Steve was the first to break. "How are you?" He asked quietly, and Tony almost missed it at first. He set a grim smile and shrugged.

"As good as anyone else could be. And you?" The conversation was strikingly formal, and the two men stood stiffy as they addressed each other, not wanting to cross the line and ignite an argument.

"Not okay, but I will be when we catch Thanos," Steve answered plainly, but just saying the name seemed to bring everyone to silence. It was a tense silence, and the rigid exteriors of both men broke as they spoke at the same time.

"Steve, I'm really sorry-"

"I'm so sorry Tony, I should've-"

The sudden start surprised them and they both stopped, and Steve continued on with his apology.

"I am really sorry, Tony, I should've said something about your parents. I didn't think it was a good thing to bring up, and I just wanted to protect Bucky. He is probably the sole reason I didn't die when I was younger, and it wasn't even his fault. He was being mind controlled and didn't have any choices, but I should've said something." While he was talking about Bucky, a few tears trailed down his face, thinking of his lost friend.

Tony was shocked to see Steve standing there in front of him crying, but he spoke too. "I know, it wasn't Barne's fault, but your right. You should've told me. We could've avoided all of this. But I'm sorry too, the Sokovia accords weren't everything I thought they were, and I could've called." Tony's mouth quirked up in a sheepish smile and he scratched the back of his neck.

Steve took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the trail of tears and gave his own half smile. Words didn't seem right for the moment, so he stuck out his hand for a handshake. Tony stared at Steve's outstretched hand for a long time, so long it made Steve wonder if he made a mistake. Ignoring the hand, Tony stepped forward and wrapped Steve in a hug, surprising the both of them. Steve stiffened at first before he hugged Tony back.

It would take a while for them to get back to where they used to be, maybe never. But this was the first step.


	17. Chapter 17

**I wanted to get in a few chapters today, and I did! So here is the next one, and it's more of the group! I hope you enjoy!**

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Surrounding the Wakandan council table, what remained of the Avengers and the Guardians talked game plan and welcomed the people they were missing. Almost immediately after Tony had talked to Steve, Tony ran over to Rhodey and pulled his best friend into a hug, careful of the leg assistance device strapped to his limbs below the waist. Rhodey had shed the suit, leaving him in a t-shirt and the brace. Tony had made it for him, and while Rhodey had turned down the offer of the cup holder, it seemed to be working well. Most importantly, he was up and walking again, so Tony would call that a score in his book.

"Who'd we lose?" Tony asked under his breath, and Rhodey let out a long sigh.

"A lot." Tony winced and Rhodey started giving names. "T'challa, his sister Shuri, Wanda and Vision, one of the guardians, and…" Rhodey sucked in a breath and shot a glance at Steve. "Bucky."

Tony's mouth opened with understanding. That's why he had been crying. Steve had lost Bucky for the umpteenth time, Tony didn't know how many times now. He slipped back into Titan, watching everyone crumble in front of him, now fully realizing the extent Thano's plan had gone to. Who knows how many more people were gone? Family members, friends, loved ones?

"Tony?" Tony snapped out of his thoughts to Rhodey shaking his shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Tony shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, sorry just thinking. What'd you need?"

"I asked about Titan, only you and that blue girl came back. There was more right? Did-did the same thing happen to them?"

Tony nodded numbly. "Quill, Drax, Mantis, Strange and… the kid. Peter." Rhodey swore under his breath.

"I need to call Potts, she'll want to-" Tony was only half paying attention, but when Rhodey brought up Pepper, Tony was filled with an energy he had been missing.

"Pepper," he said breathlessly. "I need to call her, I need to- I need…" Tony couldn't finish his sentence when the pain in his said seemed to triple in pain. He pressed a hand to his side and the other one grabbed Rhodey's shoulder keeping him up.

"You need a doctor," Rhodey grunted and waved over Bruce.

"Can you go ask the Queen permission to use the tech lab downstairs? The one you fixed Barton's aids?" Bruce nodded and ran off while Rhodey slung one of Tony's arms over his shoulders and helped him to the stairs. Bruce then ran up beside them, getting Tony's other arm and helping the bleeding man down the stairs.

* * *

While the Avengers vaguely watched Tony get led down the stairs, they were concerned but knew he was in good hands with Bruce. Steve went around, greeting the people he didn't know, which included a girl who was strikingly blue and a talking Raccoon, who he had seen on the battlefield but never got introduced. Seeing him walking around, Clint walked up to the former captain and shook his hand.

"How are you holding up, Barton?" Steve asked and Clint shot him a grim smile, nothing like what Steve remembered the archer to be. When Steve had broken him out of prison, Clint had told Steve if he was ever in real trouble again he would help, but other than that he was retired. Then Steve heard occasionally from him, but most of the time he got an update through Natasha. He had three beautiful growing kids, and the retired life seemed to suit him.

Clint shot a look at his remaining kid, who was over in the corner playing with the cat he had brought with one of the guards of the palace. "Barely. Laura, Lila, Nate, they're all gone. Thanos took them all. It's just me and Coop." Steve looked over to the younger Barton and he grabbed Clint's shoulder, squeezing sympathetically.

"We'll get him." Those words had been Steve and everyone's motto for the rough time, the only thing giving them hope that their missing loved one will be avenged. Thor was pacing around, so Steve left Clint with Natasha and went over to talk with him, who he had also seen briefly on the battlefield.

"Steve," Thor said respectfully and the two men shook hands, a mutual understanding without a lot of words.

"New hammer," Steve commented and Thor nodded.

"New beard." Steve chuckled and shook his head.

"Perks of being on the run. You doing ok?"

"No, but I will be when we find Thanos."

"I think we all will, buddy."

Steve walked away and stood near the back, watching everyone interact. They needed everyone here to start planning, and Tony had just been taken to the back with Rhodey and Bruce, so when they got back they would start.

Even after half of the team was on the run and the other half being ruled by the government, and now half of everyone gone, the best of people came out in the worst of times. Comforting glances and words traveled throughout the room, trying to keep hopes and feelings up. There was going to be a plan, and they were going to get their people back. Thanos didn't know what was coming.

* * *

"Let me talk to Pepper!" Tony shouted while Rhodey tried to hold him down to the table.

"Tony lay down on the table and let me fix this and then you can talk to Pepper! If not your probably going to die from blood loss and you'll never get a chance to talk to her!" Bruce growled, starting to lose his temper while he gathered up clean needles and bandages.

Tony finally settled down a little and laid back on the table, looking up at the tall rock ceiling. "Rhodes, can you get the suit off him?" Bruce asked and with Tony's help, whatever was left of Tony's suit was taken off and Rhodey plugged it into one of the tables nearby. It had been beaten up and the pieces of it, but when Tony had been describing how the suit worked, the nanomachine that created the suit could be fixed and potentially recreate the armor, as long as it had a power source. Using the table, Rhodey plugged the suit in and the arc reactor on the outside lit up, signaling it was started.

Looking back at Tony, he was a mess. The black and orange suit he had worn underneath was ripped and covered in orange dust, mixed with blood in certain areas. Wires held together with a crude shaped hole in Tony's abdomen, a quick fix when they were stretched for time.

"What happened, Tony?' Bruce said, washing his hands and putting on gloves, getting a needle and some clean string. Taking out the makeshift stitches was going to be the worst part, and needed to keep Tony talking.

"We were on Titan, fighting Thanos and-" Bruce had started to carefully pull out the wire used as stitches and the pain cut Tony off mid-sentence. Bruce immediately gave him a small shot of morphine to dull the pain, but he couldn't risk Tony passing out.

"Come on, Tony, keep talking, what happened next?" Bruce urged, going as quick as he could while trying to keep the damage minimal.

"Fought him, almost had him down for the count, but Quill… Quill came over and found out Thanos killed Gamora… punched him and Thanos got ahead again… we started to lose. Thanos grabbed my spear and stabbed me… Strange gave up the time stone to stop him. Then he disappeared." By the time Tony got the whole story out, pained grunts and uneven breaths punctuating his sentence, Bruce had pulled out the old wires and stitched up the wound, which was looking better than he had expected it too.

"How is it looking so good?" He asked, and Tony raised his head slightly to looked at the newly closed wound.

"I put microbots in them. Help repair things from the inside."

"Well, those probably saved your life, so score one for technology."

Rhodey finished playing out with Tony's suit, which was charging up and he picked up the earpiece, handing it to Tony. "FRIDAY?" Tony called out, and her accented voice came through the speakers of the earpiece.

" _Good to see you, boss. You have three missed calls from Pepper Potts, four missed calls and sixteen text messages from Happy, and thirty-two missed phone calls and 150 text messages from "Aunt Hottie"."_

Tony swore under his breath, he had completely forgotten about May. Peter's aunt was probably dying of worry, and he made a note to call her as soon as he was done with Pepper.

"Call Pepper."

" _Yes, sir."_

Tony waited anxiously as the phone line rang, and he almost worried that Pepper was going to think it was a prank call and not pick up. But then, a miracle happened and the line picked up. There were a few moments of silence before a voice spoke.

"...Tony?" When Pepper's voice came over the line, Tony broke. He started crying right there, and he heard Pepper start crying too.

"Pepper, oh my-Pepper…" Tony gasped, pushing his hand into his face trying to keep the crying down.

"Tony! Tony, where are you?" Pepper yelled, and Tony could hear her practically running around. Tony took a deep breath and wiped his face.

"Wakanda. I'm here, with everyone else. I just got back. I can't believe you're okay, wait are you okay?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, I'm alright. Are you okay?"

Tony looked down at the stitches in his side. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm okay." Another sob came from her side, and Tony smiled.

"I'm flying down there. I don't know how, but I'm getting there," Pepper promised, and Tony could hear her zipping up a bag.

"Take one of my jets. I'll send coordinates, and it'll take you here. Be careful. I love you."

Tony heard the movement stop and Pepper whispered back into the phone. "I love you too. I'll see you soon."

Tony hung up the call and sighed as he dreaded his next task. "Friday, dial May."

The phone rang for a second time, but this time the caller picked up immediately. "Hey, May…"


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey! This story is getting fantastic reviews and feedback, you guys don't know how much that means to me! I'm really trying to finish this before the movie comes out in April, so I'm literally putting every aside to work on this.**

 **Writer-at-Heart0: I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I hope the rest is just as good!**

 **mfaerie32: Yep, it really isn't... but you're going to have to wait just a little longer until you see it! ;)**

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 **Alrighty yo, here ya go, and wait for the rest of this weekend, I'm going to try to get one maybe two more!**

* * *

"I don't think you should do it. What if it makes it worse?"

Wanda was sitting with her head pressed against the hard rock wall of the cave that shielded them from the outside. It was hard to wrap her mind around where they were. There was only what seemed to be a sun which was oddly orange, and it made the equally as orange sand a weird mix of hot and cold. Nothing seemed to be right, nothing like it was on Earth. Earlier, when she had been running around, Wanda had been hungry and thirsty, but the longer it seemed to get, the less she felt that way. There was nothing to eat or drink anyway, but it was unnatural. Time was also irregular, because that odd sun never went down, so they could never tell how long it had been, whether they had been stuck for hours or days.

Without knowing, Bucky was thinking some of the same things, but one problem stuck out in his brain. The kid. Peter was laying in the back, where he had got up to wander around a little while earlier, before laying back down. Bucky couldn't blame him, there really wasn't anything to do. They were all coming down from the shock of what happened. Personally, Bucky tried to keep himself from thinking about it, but every time he looked at the kid, a teenager, fighting a war kid should've never had to fight, he was reminded a kid he knew long time ago, who constantly got beat up in alleys and never stopped fighting. It was hard not to see Steve in Peter.

"If something, I'd rather be able to use my powers than sit on the side useless," Wanda said, her voice tight, looking down at her broken arm wrapped in her leather jacket. She wanted to use her powers-the very thing that had helped break it in the first place to reset the bones in her arm and help heal them. It was dangerous and risky, but she was willing to do it. If it worked, and she was able to heal, that meant that she could possibly reverse some of the damage that her powers caused. She would be able to feel like she could do good in a time that seems like her powers could only do bad.

"I want to know what that _something_ might be because I don't know if you noticed, there's nothing here!" Bucky exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. Wanda didn't take her eyes on her good hand when she answered him.

"You found me, didn't you? Then we found Peter? Who's to say that there aren't more people out there?" She paused for a second and got quiet, a sudden realization. "What if Thanos is out there?"

Bucky didn't have an answer to that, so he dropped the conversation. There wasn't anything he could say to stop her, so it was better to focus on other things. Standing up, he paced up around the cave, before walking up to the entrance, checking the outside, and pacing back. Wanda sucked in a deep breath, preparing herself. She prayed that it would work, because if it didn't? There would be much more damage than what she had started with. Bucky watched carefully, posed to stop her the moment it looked like it was too much.

Focusing her powers, she stayed inside her body instead of releasing it. She frowned when the red pulsing under her skin traveled down her broken arm and swirled around inside. Suddenly, pain seared up her arm, and it was like she could feel her bones grinding against each other as they fused back together. She squeezed her eyes shut and ground her teeth, while Bucky dropped to one knee in front of her, eyes wide with concern.

"Stop… let me… finish…" Wanda ground out, the pain starting to slowly lessen as she restored her bones to what they used to be. Once her broken arm was healed, she switched over to her other side, which was bruised, but yet to the point of breaking. She let her powers do their job, and when she was pain-free, she gently let the energy flow from her fingertips, creating a tiny red ball that weaved in between ringed fingers.

Bucky pressed his lips together until they were thin white lines as he watched. "Did it work?"

Wanda chuckled softly as she threw the ball into the air, and it dispersed as it hit the ceiling of the rock cave. "I think so, my arms feel fine," she exclaimed, flexing her hands and her fingers, testing out the mobility. Bucky let out the breath he had been holding and relaxed into the sand, rubbing his hand over his face. A stray piece of hair had fallen out of his makeshift ponytail, something that had been happening more frequently.

"Can I…?" Wanda asked, motioning to him struggling to get the stray piece back in, and Bucky nodded. Wanda stood behind him and untied the piece of his uniform that he used, letting his hair fall back so it brushed his shoulders. Being out in Wakanda, Bucky really didn't care much for his appearance, and when he was under HYDRA's influence, his looks were especially not a concern. However, he did like his hair. Some days it reminded him of being the Winter Soldier, of all the killings, but he didn't want to cut it. He wasn't the Bucky he used to be, so he accepted the change. Gently, Wanda pulled his hair back, picking up stray pieces and pulling them back, only leaving a few in the front which wasn't long enough to go in. She tied them with the cloth, and smiled at her work, feeling satisfied.

"Thanks," Bucky mumbled, feeling the tiniest bits of self-conscious, when suddenly, Peter stood up from the spot in the back and walked forward. Wanda and Bucky both watched him with uncertainty as he walked to the entrance of the cave. Peter had been left in his old suit, the only thing that was underneath the new one. Peter needed to get the Iron Spider one off because as he remembered, he was attached to the spaceship as it was going into space, as a spaceship does, and he ran out of oxygen.

He had blacked out for only seconds, but by the time the suit caught him and he started breathing again, it was enough to leave a dent on his memory. So when he landed in the soul world, he felt like he trapped inside, and this time the suit wasn't giving him oxygen to breathe. So he looked out at the sand, standing in his red and blue suit, brown hair lightly tossed in the wind and dried tear stains on his cheeks. He had run out of tears a while ago, nothing would come out. He was silent for this whole time, he didn't know if he was strong enough to talk. Peter felt like he was five years old again. He was scared, upset, and just wanted to go home.

Bucky stood up and walked up behind the younger kid, and gently placed his hand on his shoulder. Peter stiffened slightly under the contact, before realizing it was a friend, it wasn't a bad guy, he was ok.

"You doing alright, Parker?" Bucky asked, even though he knew the answer. No one would be okay after what had just happened, nevertheless a kid. Peter shook his head, which Bucky was expecting, but suddenly, Peter ran out a little more out into the sand, spinning around and shot two strings of webs to the top of the cave. He flung himself up on top of the rocks and ran back, out of sight up Bucky.

"Woah, Peter, come back here!" Bucky shouted, feeling just like he used to, running at a little punk named Steve. Hearing Bucky's shouts, Wanda ran out just as confused.

"Parker, bring us up there!" Bucky shouted while Wanda brought her hand up to block some of the orange light. Suddenly, a single strand of web shot down and hung off the side, which Bucky grabbed and started climbing while Wanda tested out her powers and put herself up there. Peter was standing where the back of the cave was, looking out over the edge, which led to just more sand. Peter looked down, and Wanda sighed. Together the two adults walked up behind Peter with sympathetic smiles.

"Peter, there's nothing there. We've walked around, we've checked everything," Wanda said carefully, her voice quiet. Peter shook his head and pulled the little box that was his Iron Spider suit and placed it on his back, which followed his commands and covered his body in the suit, except for the helmet.

"There's something down there, I can feel it," Parker said softly, the first time he had spoken since they've been in there.

"Are you sure? I mean-"

"Yes." He stated firmly, turning around to face them. From the outside, besides a few bruises on his face a cut on his cheek, he escaped mostly unscathed. Wanda had tried to check for injuries, but couldn't do much with the suit on. "It's the same feeling I got, there's something down there."

Bucky was thinking for a minute. Bruce had told them a little bit about what happened in New York, so he figured it was this. "Wait, the same feeling you got when?"

"When I was riding the bus. The hair on my arm stuff up, and I could just… feel something wasn't right. That's when the ship showed up." Peter explained, looking back down at the ground, which was just regular sand.

Wanda was still skeptical. "I think you're just tired, Peter, let's…-"

"You guys are just going to have to trust me," Peter said before he jumped off the edge and fell below.

"PETER!" Bucky and Wanda yelled at the same time, rushing forward, dreading the sight of him laying on the ground, but while they watched, Peter fell right through the sand and disappeared.

"What just happened?"


	19. Chapter 19

**Oh man, what I cliffhanger I left you guys. That was kind of cruel, but I wanted to wait and see how you guys reacted, and it was amazing! So I don't want to make you wait too much longer, and I'm just having so much fun writing this. So I present to you, some answers!**

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 **sweetreader: I know, confusing right? ;)**

 **Broken Silhouettes: Plot twists are my favorite!**

 **Frost Deejn: I'm glad I hooked your interest. Here you go!**

 **So I know how annoying it is to have an author never update, I've done the same, so I'm trying to get more on a schedule for this story, but I'm not making any promises. But anyway, I hope you enjoy! I won't leave you with _too_ much of a cliffhanger maybe...**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Both Wanda and Bucky stared at the unnaturally orange sand, wondering where in the world Peter had just disappeared off to. Bucky climbed down the side of the cave, making sure not to do the same jump Peter did, with Wanda not to far behind him. Bucky dropped to the ground and starting scoop at the sand, trying to find like a hidden trap door that was left open or some kind of opening that he could fall through. Bucky was trying to wrap his mind around what was going on, and when he looked behind him to get Wanda to help him out, she was standing there, her arms out at a downward "v" and her eyes shut.

"What are you doing?" Bucky asked incredulous, feeling weirder and weirder. Wanda shushed him and continued to stand there. Bucky sat in the sand and watched, feeling useless as Wanda just stood there. After a few more minutes of silent awkwardness, Wanda took a deep breath and opened her eyes, turning to Bucky with a small smile on her face.

"There down there. All of them are."

Bucky groaned and rubbed his face, growling in frustration. "Who's down there? Where exactly is there? What is going on? Can somebody please explain to me?!"

Without an answer, Wanda climbed back up to the top of the cave, and looked down at the confused Bucky, and smiled. "Peter's right. You're going to have to trust us." Then without warning she jumped off the cave and fell towards the same spot Peter did, disappearing into the sand and leaving Bucky sputtering.

"What the actual- I can't believe, I hate people so much, everybody is a complete idiot, oh my-" Bucky muttered to himself, punctuating the silence with curses, something he hadn't done in a while. He walked back to the front of the cave, checked the inside to make sure they didn't forget anything, not exactly like there was anything extra to grab. Besides them and the clothes on their bodies, Thanos' snap didn't bring anything else.

Bucky talked to himself the whole way back up to the roof of the cave and looked over the edge, down at the sand below. The same sand that he had stared at for this entire time and the one that had mysteriously swallowed up two of his friends, and the only other people around him.

"Here you go, c'mon James, it's just a little jump, you can do it…" He cheered himself on, but it didn't actually make him feel any better. Taking a deep breath, he swung his arms back and forth with a mental countdown, and on zero, he took the leap, swearing out everyone he knew.

He fell and suddenly a cold feeling rushed over his body and suddenly he was out of the orange light, and everything was a dark blue. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust, and by the time they did, he realized he was still falling. He opened his mouth to cry out, when he hit something that cushioned him, almost like a net. It stuck to his arms and his pants, letting him down slowly. It was the kid's webs. When he looked down again there was the ground, with Wanda and Peter looking at him with smiles on their faces.

"I don't like either of you," Bucky said out loud, untangling himself from the sticky webs and pulling the excess off the back of his shirt. Peter gave what almost was like a quiet chuckle and crossed his arms.

"You followed. Kinda surprised." Bucky looked up at the sudden sarcasm out of the kid who had been silent the whole time.

"Yeah, big deal." Bucky shrugged it off and took a quick look around. Tall dark blue rocks traveled upward, and at the very top, he saw a little pinpoint of orange: the hole he just fell through. "So what is this place?"

"My spidey senses went off-" he was met with confused looks from both parties and he held his hand up to explain. "They're like normal human sense, just hyperactivated, so I can kind of tell when danger's around. So it went off when I was near there, and I could tell that something was down here."

"And I could hear voices too. Thoughts. They were really quiet, so I had to focus, but they were down here." Wanda added in, explaining the weird actions she had done no more than ten minutes earlier.

Bucky nodded, trying to take in all this information. "So, what kind of voices? I mean, who's?" Bucky asked, looking around the place they had landed, confused. "There's not really anyone around.

Wanda nodded. "I know. This is just the opening. Everyone is down here."

"Wait, like _everyone_ , everyone?"

Peter smiled and nodded. "Everyone who had disappeared. Come on." He slowly jogged deeper into the underground cave, the blue getting darker around them. Wanda sent a little ball of red light up into the air in front of the kid, lighting the way. A few twists and turns let them to another opening, a lighter shade of blue than the one they were in. Bucky already hated the colors of these places. Too much of one. Orange, blue, didn't matter.

But as soon as he walked through the opening he forgot all about his hatred of the single colors of the place they were trapped when he got hit by the front. Immediately bracing for an attack, it took him a minute to recognize that it was a hug.

Shocked, Sam had wrapped Bucky into a hug, nothing like the handshakes and fist bumps they had before. Then again, with whatever had happened, sometimes people just needed a hug. Bucky relaxed and hugged him back, standing there silent as Sam was just amazed to see Bucky again.

Sam pulled back first and gave Bucky a firm handshake who returned it with a smile. "What happened to you hating me?" Bucky quipped, and Sam gave a sad chuckle.

"You know, once we get out of here, we can start that up again," his voice was cracked and dry, and the falcon suit was still attached to his back, goggles up on top of his head.

Bucky turned to look at everyone else in the room, amazed that everyone was in one place. There were only a few people, most of them he had never seen before. One face he was extremely happy to see.

"Shuri!" He called out, and as soon as she heard his voice, she got up off the floor she had been sitting and ran to give Bucky a big hug. He practically picked her up, and Shuri buried her head into his shoulder, overjoyed of seeing another familiar face. Suddenly, she let go and dropped back to the ground, sniffed and wiped her nose, eyes wet.

"Sergeant." She said formally, cracking a small smile when Bucky laughed.

"I told you, kid, it's Bucky." He slung his arm over her shoulder and they walked to the back, where she had been sitting with T'challa. Bucky leaned down and gave T'challa firm handshake, the king of Wakanda resting on the floor, recovering from some visible injuries from the fight.

"So who is everyone, exactly?" Bucky asked, sitting down next to Shuri near the back. Wanda and Peter had rejoined the rest of the crowd, talking with some of the others and catching back up.

"Dr. Strange, he's the guy in the weird red cape. He keeps saying it's magic, but there's got to be some tech in there. He was with Tony on Titan. The dude with the old headphone and red leather jacket, that's Peter Quill. He's the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, whoever they are. Big shirtless dude next to him and the lady with the antenna is Drax and Mantis. The tree walking around is Groot, but he doesn't speak much English. Then the two others I don't know, but they said they were from a thing called SHIELD. Fury and Hill. Don't really know them, but I think they're the most confused. Wanda's been filling them in as much as she can." Shuri pointed everyone out, and Bucky reminded himself to make real introductions later.

Suddenly, the room seemed to get a lot louder than the small group of them could make, and Bucky searched the room they were in for the source of the noise. "What is that?"

Shuri gave a small smile. "Oh yeah, we're not alone. Come look." Shuri walked over to one of the walls that were carved out, and she turned back to talk over her shoulder. "Strange is going to give them another pep talk in a few minutes, and we might be able to start trying to get out of here."

Bucky was confused about who the "they" were, but when he looked over the opening, he couldn't help but gasp. The blue seemed to go on forever like an underground cave system, and every single space of it was full of a person. A living, breathing, confused person.

"Who are they?" Bucky asked, breathless.

"They're everyone else who got affected by the snap."


	20. Chapter 20

**I know I literally just posted a chapter, but this one is short and sweet and I really just wanted to show it tonight, so you guys get two in one night! I'm going to try and get some more tomorrow, but we'll see.**

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* * *

Tony had been prepared for a hurricane of yells and threats, swearing, and screaming, but he didn't expect May to break down crying on the other side of the phone. Maybe she didn't know? Then again it had been all over the news, and the instant Peter didn't come home she would've called and turned it on.

"May, I'm…" Tony's voice choked too, emotion still raw as he laid back on the table and ran a hand over his eyes and through his hair. "I'm so, so sorry." There wasn't much else he could put to words otherwise he would start crying as hard as she was.

Tony heard May take a deep breath to try and compose herself as she spoke. "Just… just tell me one thing. Tell me you didn't take him up there. Please, tell me he broke the rules and joined or something, tell me you didn't make him."

Tony was shell shocked. "No, no no no I never made him do it. I told him to stay back, and he never listened to me. I tried to tell him, I really did. The stubborn kid wouldn't listen." Now Tony couldn't help it, he was crying too. May started a fresh new wave of tears on the other side but gave a sigh of relief.

"I'm telling you May, I promise on my mother's grave I will bring Peter home. We are killing that sick son of gun Thanos and I am going to bring Peter home." Tony swore with a fierceness he hadn't even seen in himself. Nothing was going to stop him from getting Peter, not even the big ugly purple grape who thought he could take half of the world.

Tony couldn't tell, but he would swear that May smiled. "Promise me another thing, Tony."

"Yes, anything."

"When you bring back Peter, make sure you come too. You have no idea how much he talks about you. You are the closest thing to a father that boy has had in a long time, and you don't know how much that means to him. And me."

Tony pulled the phone and held it to the back of his head so May didn't hear him crying. He put his hand over his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking deep breaths and trying to calm back down. When he could breathe and talk normally, he heard May's concerned voice.

"Tony? Tony are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good. And… I promise. I'll come back." For the first time in his life, he meant it. Before, there was Pepper and Happy, but now he had a kid looking up to him. Seeing him as a father. There was no way he was going to leave that behind.

"Good. Now get back Peter."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll call with updates. Bye."

"Goodbye, Tony." Tony hung up the phone and sighed, rubbing his temples. It had gone better than expected, he had half waited for May to chew him out for being a horrible person and dragging a kid into a fight that would eventually make him go missing. Tony didn't want to say dead, there was no way the kid was dead. It wasn't possible. And more importantly, Tony wouldn't allow it.

Bruce came back in the room, the finished phone call signally Tony's end of privacy, a bottle of water and a handful of pills in his hand. "Take these," he said and Tony followed obediently. "Pepper texted me a few minutes ago, she said FRIDAY made the plane go as fast as possible. She'll be here in about ten minutes."

Tony sighed and shot the doctor a rare genuine smile. "Thanks, Bruce. Now help me up, I need to get back up there." Tony started to swing his legs across the table when he suddenly got really tired and really sleepy. Stifling a yawn, he barely even noticed Bruce's gentle hands on his shoulders, pushing him back down on the table.

"Why am I… oh, you think you're sneaky, huh?" Tony wondered until he caught the sly grin on Bruce's face.

"What?" Bruce asked innocently.

"You're a horrible liar. Those were sleeping pills, right?"

"You need to sleep. And I know you weren't going do it on your own, so I thought you needed a little help."

"I take back every nice thing I've ever said to you." Tony threatened, but Bruce only laughed when the billionaire could barely get out the sentence between yawns. "Stop. I'm not joking. When I wake up, I'm gonna beat you up, doc. You just wait…" Tony was going to finish his threat, but the medicine kicked in fully and his eyes rolled back into his head and he was out.

Bruce carefully pulled the earpiece out and set it by the suit, which was almost done with charging. Grabbing and blanket and pillow, he stuck it under Tony's head and pulled the blanket over him, turning out the lights as he walked away. When Tony woke up, his suit would be charged, Pepper would be there, and he'd be ready to fight.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys! I told you I'd be back soon! So this is quick and I just want to thank all of you for all your support. Thanks!**

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 **Alrighty, guys, here you go, an extra long chapter. I enjoyed writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading!**

* * *

"How did everyone get here?" Bucky asked, watching groups of people move around in the lower section of the underground cave. They were huddled together as close as they could get, friends and family members, even complete strangers. Tragedy brings people closer, gives them a common enemy.

"We don't exactly know. Our best guess is that they were here originally. It seems that only people who were found on the surface was us. Everyone else was already down here when we found it. Strange and Quill spent a lot of time organizing everything, splitting people up into groups based off country and places. Quill has a translator and Strange had some magic spell that helps too, so we can communicate with everyone."

"How many people are there?" Astonished, the wave of people moving around never seemed to end, it kept going back into the dark until he couldn't see anymore.

Shuri shook her head and shrugged. "There's no way to tell for sure. Going off basic guesses however, the world population was 7.53 billion. In theory, if Thanos took have of that, it would be over three and a half billion." Bucky whistled and crossed his arms. He knew there was a lot, but that was _a lot_.

"How on earth are we going to get all of them out?"

"I think the real question is," Shuri interjected sadly, "how are any of us going to get out? We have nothing so far."

Bucky sat back silent until he suddenly remembered. "Wait, when we were up on the surface, Wanda was using her powers and she actually made what looked like a crack in the sky. Maybe we just need to break free?"

Shuri's mouth open and shut, in the process of thinking through it. "Yes, possibly, but what if… breaking it means that we can't get out again? I mean, I'm pretty sure we're not on Earth, it's got to be a different dimension or something."

"Yes, but think about it. If you're keeping a bug in a glass jar on a shelf, and it falls off, the glass breaks and the bug is free."

"I think we're dealing with something a little bigger than a bug in a jar. It's not only our lives, but it's also the lives of three and a half billion people. I think we need a little more than theories."

"All we have right now is theories, so it's best to keep our mind open, yeah?"

"Everyone, if you can gather around please!" The resident doctor called out, and slowly the rest of the Avengers filtered out their conversations and surrounded Strange. He was sitting up on a tall rock, so he was at equal height with everyone standing.

Strange was straight to the point. "I have reason to believe that Thanos is trapped in this… place, the same as we are." Around the room, the heroes gasped and started whispering amongst each other until Strange coughed politely and they quieted down again.

"Where are we?" A voice called out and Strange shrugged.

"That I'm not completely sure of. My best guess, however, is that we are all physically trapped inside of the soul stone, Thanos included. When he snapped, the soul stone opened this… gateway to this world, and here we are."

"Then why is Thanos here too?"

"He needed a place to hide out. He just wiped out half of the population of the world, possibly the universe. While he isn't expecting much resistance because of the half, he didn't want to hang around."

"So he thinks we're all going to sit here, useless."

"Yes. And that's where he's wrong. So we are going back up to the surface, after explaining the rest of this to the civilians, and we are going to search for Thanos. I don't care how far we have to go, we don't seem to need water or food or sleep, so we should be alright. We are going to find Thanos, we are going to make him reverse the damage he's done, and then we are going to kill him."

Strange was met with cheers and he gave a grim smile, standing up to walk to the rock window leading out to where the rest of the missing population was. Before he could reach it, he was stopped and pulled aside by Peter Quill, who looked concerned and curious.

"Hey doc, I got a quick question. You said that people who disappeared showed up in here, right?" He asked timidly, messing around with the headphones he had in his hands.

"Yes, that is what I believe, but it could be different. It's my best theory so far."

"Do you think… people who were actually killed could be here too?"

Strange was taken aback for a moment, then remembered when they had Thanos trapped on Titan and Quill decided to attack when he talked about a girl.

"Is this the girl Thanos killed? When we were on Titan?" Peter rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and nodded, looking at his shoes. "Well, it depends, but I don't know for sure. If he killed her with the stone, possibly, but if he just killed her, like with his hands, I don't think so. I can't say for certain for either of those, but I wouldn't keep your hopes up."

Peter looked he had been expecting that answer and walked away with a mumbled, "thanks, doc." Strange sighed and turned back to the crowd, using the cloak of levitation that had been wrapped around his body and floated in the air. He whispered an incantation and suddenly his voice was projected. He heard himself speak English, but he knew from previous experience that everyone else was hearing it in their native language, so everyone could easily understand him. Slowly, he explained the same that he did with the heroes, and they all took it in with shock. The voices of three billion people rumbled through the cave, but Strange couldn't answer through all of their questions.

The rest of the remaining Avengers watched through the window, and everyone watched with curiosity when a wave of people parted, with a single person walking down the middle. Different languages made it impossible to actually understand what they were saying, but the general confusion was the same. " _Who is he?"_

Fury watched with the scowl that deepened as the figure pushed his way through the front of the crowd and showed his face. "That son of a…"

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt this terribly _dreadful_ speech, but I am looking for a man that has often been your acquaintance. My brother."

Dr. Strange used the cloak and hovered down until he touched the ground, standing only a few feet away from the man with a frown.

"Loki."

"Strange," Loki replied with a tone with just as much resentment that was given to him. "I do believe my grudge still stands when you sent me falling in that… place."

"I have no regrets. What are you doing here?"

"Quite a genius aren't we now," Loki said with a smile. "I died, just like the rest of all of you. However, I didn't disappear, later on, Thanos himself killed me." There was an odd sort of satisfaction in his voice that put Strange off. But he did see the dark bruises that made the ring around Loki's neck.

Loki would never forget the feeling of choking, running out of the air, and the unmistakable sound of his own neck snapping. Most people wouldn't remember, because the second it happened he blacked out and died. The unusual part of it was that he woke up again, he definitely wasn't in Valhalla. It was a place completely orange, completely alone. There was no one else with him, and that last sound that he heard, the sound of his neck breaking haunted him as he wandered around, searching for others. For a while, he was sure that he was completely alone and he was dreading the looming fact that he may never see anyone else again.

He was trapped in his thoughts and his hatred for Thanos and Thor. He hated Thor for the fact that he had gotten involved with Loki dealing with Thanos. Unknowingly, Thor being there made Loki's sole weakness possible for Thanos to exploit. And he did. When Thanos put one of the infinity stones against Thor, fully intent on killing him, Loki could only hold up the charade for a few moments before he caved and agreed to Thanos. Next thing he knew, he said his final words to his brother and attacked Thanos, only to die in the process. But then he didn't really die.

He wandered around on the orange sand for a while, when all of a sudden his foot hit a particular portion of the sand and he fell through. He instantly thought back to the time where Strange had sent him through a portal to fall for eternity and thought he was trapped in that cycle once again.

When he hit the hard ground with a thud, he knew it was true. He found himself surrounded by humans, the people of earth, staring at him in wonder. Seeking the attention he always craved, he tried to get them to bow to his will, but the language barrier made it impossible and they all looked at him like he was stupid. But when Strange projected his voice all around, Loki recognized it and instantly thought of Thor. Maybe he was there too. So he sprinted through the crowds, searching for the one person he trusted and here he was.

"You don't happen to know where Thor could possibly be, now do you?" Loki asked, looking over Strange' shoulder to see if Thor was hiding somewhere.

Out of nowhere, Loki got hit from the front and was pushed up against one of the hard rock walls, a hand squeezing his throat once again. He reacted in panic and instantly shot his foot out, knocking his attacker off balance and switching their positions. He drew his knife and pointed it between the eyes of the man that had jumped him, which was none other than the former Director of SHIELD, Nick Fury.

"Director Fury, what a pleasure to see you again," Loki said, regaining his composure.

"Not likewise," Fury cracked, trying to shoot daggers at Loki with his one remaining eye. Loki carefully got up and put his knife away, while it looked like Fury was putting everything he had into not jumping on Loki again.

"Why the sudden outburst? I've come to be on your side."

Fury laughed, loud and obviously sarcastic. "On our side? Not a chance. No way. You must be out of your _mind_."

Loki looked at the director with a small smile. "Some might argue that I am. Out of my mind, I mean. But believe me when I saw that I am completely serious when I say I want to help."

"No. Not when you took two of my best men and turned them into your own person puppets, and wreaked havoc onto my city."

"Ah, Agent Barton and Selvig. How are they?"

Fury growled under his breath and bared a dangerous smile. "Barton has made it a personal vendetta to stick an arrow through your eye socket."

"Fabulous," Loki said, completely unphased. "Then you and I can be twins."

Loki walked past a seething Fury and back to Dr. Strange, who was watching the encounter with an amused smile on his face. "Now my original question was never answered. Do you know where Thor is?"

Strange shook his head, the smile dropping off his face. "He's still alive, as far as I know. He's not in here, that's for sure." Loki didn't smile, but he didn't frown either. His face stayed neutral before he made up his mind.

"Fine. But as I told the director before, I would like to join all of you, to seek out Thanos."

"Why do you want to find him?"

"Just the same as all of you. I want to kill him."


	22. Chapter 22

**Oof, once I put my mind to something, I can really get things done! It's amazing how work can get done when I'm _not_ procrastinating LOL. **

**Alright, I'm not going to hold you guys up for much longer, because I'm going to go back and work some more chapters, so I could possibly post another chapter tonight.**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **Frost Deejn: Thanks! That part was especially fun to write!**

 **SirPikachu: Yep! I couldn't wait to bring him back.**

 **So I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and your weekend! See you soon!**

* * *

Loki walked around to the back, making sure to stay in sight of everyone while staying back as much as possible. He was sure that most of them didn't believe that he was there to help, Fury kept shooting dangerous looks at him every three seconds. But he really was there to kill Thanos. No matter what they thought, he was going to kill him.

Loki tried to find someplace as far from the heroes to sit and just watch, not talk to anybody, but one of the heroes was quickly walking towards him, his face set in stone. Loki sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as the man in a red leather jacket and headphones dangling around his neck.

"What do you want, mortal?"

Peter opened his mouth then shut it. "Well, technically, I'm not… whatever," he stuttered before going back to say his original problem. "I heard you talking to Strange, you said that you… died? Like actually died? By Thanos?"

Loki looked up at the man, puzzled but intrigued. "Yes. Why?"

"And you ended up in here, even though you didn't get dusted?"

"Yes. And again, I ask, why?"

Loki never got his answer. A smile grew across the man's face and Peter Quill sprinted directly for Doctor Strange, calling out his name the whole time.

Strange opened his eyes from the meditation he was attempting to do and stared into the smiling face of the Quill, the first time he had looked happy this whole time. "Yes?"

"I need you to call out for a person. Using your magic voice thingy."

"Why?"

"Well, greasy hair dude back there died, like legitimately died and he's in here. I need to know if she is in here too."

Strange sighed and nodded, walking back to the window with an eager Quill behind him, pacing anxiously. Quill used the rocks and slid down to the floor, near the crowd of people. Above him, he heard Strange call out while Quill watched the crowd carefully.

"Gamora? Gamora? Is there a Gamora in here? Gamora?"

Quill kept his eyes peeled while Strange repeated the message a second time, his hope rapidly deflating. After Strange called out a third and final time, he dropped to the ground next to Quill and placed a gentle hand on the man's shoulder.

"Peter, I don't think-"

"No!" Peter cut him off, stepping forward. "She's here, I know it, she's here." He took a deep breath. "She has to be here," he whispered, voice cracking.

Strange nodded and used his cloak to get back up to the window, leaving Quill on the ground, anxiously waiting for someone that seemed more and more like they weren't coming. Quill waited for what felt like hours, but was only minutes in real time, before turning away. He had gotten his hopes up, just like they had warned him not to do.

Suddenly, while his back was turned, someone attacked his back and he fell forward, cursing. Someone whispered his name and he froze, not wanting to believe it. He turned over and he looked up into the face of Gamora, who had sprinted up behind him.

"Gamora," his voice was breathless and nothing else was said as they broke into a long kiss, Quill running his hands through her hair. When they finished they just laid there on the floor, Gamora pressed up against Quill's chest, in silence.

Finally, Quill broke the silence and asked the question that had been on his mind through her hair. "What happened?"

Gamora took inhaled and exhaled shakily, relaying her part of the story. Thanos showing Nebula and tortured her, making her show him where the soul stone was, and pushing her off the cliff as the sacrifice.

"I remember falling, then I hit the ground. I didn't feel anything else after that, but then I woke up in the sand. Up on the surface. I wandered around for a while, then I found this, cave. It was really big, it went on for like miles. I had seen some smaller ones, but none of them were this big. I walked down that, and there was a hole. There was nothing else to do, so I went down it and I was surrounded by people. The people here. Then that voice was calling my name, so I ran. It had to be you."

Quill wanted nothing more than to stay put, just stay with Gamora and forget about everything that had happened. But Thanos was still out there, and he needed to kill the thing that had almost taken everything away from him.

"C'mon, let's go back up," Quill said gently, tugging Gamora up and together they climbed back up the rocks where all the rest of the heroes were standing. The rest of the Guardians immediately rushed Gamora and squeezed her in a huge hug, squishing her. She smiled and even laughed a little bit, more than she had done in a while at least.

"Where's Rocket? And… Nebula?" The way she said her sister's name was almost hopeful.

"I am Groot," Groot said, the first words he had spoken the entire time, he had mostly stuck with Drax while they were in the stone.

"They're alive? Both of them? That's great!" Gamora exclaimed, then suddenly fell silent. "But are we going to see them again?" She whispered, mostly too herself. Quill heard her, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and placed a gentle kiss on her head.

"We will. We're going to go out soon, Strange thinks Thanos is here, with us. We're going to go find him, and we're going to kill him. I promise."

Quill and Gamora hugged again, while Peter Parker paced back and forth in the back, fists clenching and unclenching. A sweat broke out on his forehead and no matter how many times he squeezed his fists, his hands wouldn't stop shaking. He was back on Titan again, and he was disappearing before his own eyes. His stomach tightened and his hearing grew too loud, a tell-tale sign that his senses were overloading again. He had been doing fine before, there hadn't been anything that made him think about anything other the fact that there were other people.

As soon as he saw Quill and Gamora reunited, something struck a chord inside of him. He thought of Mr. Stark and the last moments of pain up on that planet. Parker pressed his back up against the rough stone and pressed his hands over his ears. He took in deep breaths, breathing on a pattern, trying to keep his senses at bay. Slowly, he slid down the rocks until he was sitting, and he shut his eyes, trying to calm back down.

"Dude, are you alright?" A voice called out to him, which was slightly muffled by his hands. He opened one eye to look up and see the other teenager, Shuri.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just dying, ya know?" Peter said sarcastically before he realized he wasn't talking to any teenager, like Ned or MJ, he was talking to _the princess_ of Wakanda and his mouth immediately dropped. Before he could apologize, a wide grin spread across her face and she chuckled.

"I don't know how that works since we're all supposedly 'dead' anyway. So besides dying, are you actually ok?" Shuri asked, dropping down next to Peter and watching him carefully.

Peter cracked a smile and pulled his hands off his ears, trying out sounds. It was still a little too loud for his liking, but it was better.

"I'm Shuri, by the way." Peter nodded and stuck out his gloved hand.

"Peter Parker." They shared the most awkward handshake mankind has ever know, which left them both chuckling.

"So… you're that Spider-Man kid right? The dude on YouTube?"

Pink flooded Parker's cheeks and he smiled, nodding. "You've heard of me? All the way in… uh… whatever you're countries called?"

Shuri gave a small smile, then her face turned serious. "Wakanda. And if I had been any other person and you said that, you would be thrown in the dungeon and hung from your toes."

With the scared look of Parker and her own jokes, Shuri could only hold her serious face for a few more seconds before she threw back her head in laughter. Parker looked even more concerned but let out his breath slowly, hoping he didn't just offend a princess.

"I'm kidding, it's fine. Besides, we wouldn't hang you from your toes, because well, if your toes are ugly, their freaking ugly! And if your toes are ugly, your feet are ugly"

Parker stopped and stared at her. "Was that… a vine? Did you just quote a vine at me?" Shuri smiled at him but didn't give any other explanation. Parker looked at her suspiciously, and simultaneously, looked at each other's shoes and did what Shuri once pulled on her brother and Parker had done countless times at his school.

"What are THOSE!" The two teens broke out into ridiculous laughter and Parker couldn't help but feel a little better. At least he wasn't completely alone.

Shuri and Peter continued joking and quoting vines to each other, an a few minutes later, Strange called all of the heroes together for a second meeting.

"Alright, guys," he addressed the crowd, making eye contact with everyone for a fleeting second, even Loki lurking in the back and continued. "We're going to split up into groups, but nobody is going to stray too far from each other, we can't lose anybody in this. There's no way to tell how far back this place goes. As soon as someone sees Thanos or a place he could hide out, holler, and we'll attack as a group. Strength in numbers."

The crowd nodded back at him, and his face was set in a grim smile. "Let's go get 'em."


	23. Chapter 23

**Whew, that was a _really_ long week for me, I'm glad it's over. I've got a good chunk of downtime this week, so that's where more of these chapters will get written. That April movie date is getting dangerously close, last time I remember looking at a calendar it was the beginning of January, now it's nearly March...**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **Frost Deejn: Maybe? I can't really say to much, but he'll possibly be there ;)**

 **SirPikachu: I love the Shuri and Peter duo, they are my favorite. I'm going to get them in scenes together as much as possible, they are just too much fun!**

 **cyannforever: Thanks! Loki was so much fun to write!**

 **Alright, guys, I'll see you later! Enjoy!**

* * *

Peter Parker took a deep breath before he pressed the button that brought his Iron Spider suit over the rest of his body, putting him back into Spider-Man mode. " _Hello, Peter_ ," His AI Karen, said cautiously, voice glitching slightly. Peter smiled as he looked up at the hole that he had originally fallen down in.

"Karen? You're working?"

" _It's a surprise to me too. I was shut down for a long time, but systems came back on line as soon as you put the suit on. I don't know how."_

"Well, it's good to have you back, Karen."

" _Likewise, Peter._ "

"Who are you talking to?" The sudden voice made Peter jumped and he turned around to see Shuri standing behind him, watching him carefully. Parker tapped a spot behind his ear and the mask disappeared off his face, and he smiled.

"It's my Suit Lady. I named her Karen."

"Your… suit lady?"

"Yeah. Mr. Stark put her in the suit. She's AI."

"A functional AI in a suit. What can she do?" Shuri suddenly asked intrigued. She wished she had her notes with her right then, she wanted to write everything done so she could make upgrades to T'Challa's suit.

Parker opened his mouth to answer, but the strained voice of Dr. Strange cut him off. "Parker, get over here, we need you."

"I'll explain it later," Peter whispered before he sprinted to Strange, his mask reappearing over his face. Strange gave Parker a set of quick instructions, which he nodded along eagerly. Shuri watched with scientific amazement as webs seemingly shot out of the bottom part of his palms and he swung up to the top of the cave, where the hole that led to the outside brought that same orange light. He flipped on the webs until he was standing on the rocky ceiling, just by the bottom of his feet.

Shuri momentarily forgot about their problem and the search for Thanos as she tried to figure out what tech he was using. It was so advanced, able to hold up a human completely upside down effortlessly. She had yet to make that type of tech in Wakanda, so she needed to figure out how it worked!

The first step to finding Thanos was to just get out of the underground cave in the first place. The drop was a long one from the holes that were covered in sand to the blue ground they stood on now. It's not exactly something people could just jump up to. So Strange had certain heroes placed around to help the others up. Spider-Man was up on the ceiling, ready to use his webs and pull people up through the hole. Wanda and Strange stood on the ground, using their telekinesis to move people up.

It was a slow process because they didn't want to lose control of the people they were putting through the entrance. Spider-Man grabbed Bucky first, while Wanda took Shuri and T'Challa, and Strange took Drax and Mantis. Small groups of people were brought up, and when they were left with Groot on the floor, Strange's levitation cloak slipped off his shoulders and wrapped around the tree. Groot gave a great holler and had a wide grin spread across his face as the levitation cloak spin him in circles before depositing him on the orange sand with the rest of the heroes.

Wanda and Stephen were the last people on the floor, so Parker sent two webs down to them and pulled them through the opening. Looking down one last time to make sure they grabbed everyone, he stuck two of his own webs and swung backward, flipping into the disturbingly orange landscape.

Everyone stood in groups. The Guardians: Quill hanging tightly to Gamora, and Groot standing in between Drax and Mantis; Shuri and T'challa stayed close together while Bucky and Wanda stood not far from them, united by their team and common language; the director Fury and his Commander Hill stood side by side, eyes defiant, and Loki stood in the back of the whole group, with the same amount of determination as the rest of them. Peter slid in with Shuri who gave him a small smile and Dr. Strange stood in front of them all, giving them one last speech.

"Before we go, I have one final thing. When we find Thanos… and we will, I promise… there is only one thing. If I give an order, you _have_ to follow it." Strange paused for a second and saw the confused faces across the group and he raised his hand to explain.

"Hold on, I know. It's a big thing I'm asking you, and I don't know a lot of you very well and it would be very hard to trust me, I understand. But what you need to understand is that while we were on Titan, I looked into the future to find the outcome. I saw 14 million different outcomes, and only one of them will work." The sudden look of awe and understanding from the heroes almost brought a smile to Strange's face. Almost.

"So if I get one thing across, it's this: if I say jump, you jump. I say duck, you duck. Some of them are going to sound strange, and others just plain stupid, but you need to listen. If a punch from Thanos is coming towards you, and I tell you to stay put, you need to _stay put_."

Shuri raised her hand in the crowd. "Why? Why would we want to get punched in the face?"

Strange gave a small chuckle. "Have you ever thought about going into the past? You know how if you change one thing in your past, you could end up screwing everything up?" Most of the heroes nodded, including Shuri.

"It's sort of like that. If we don't follow this future exactly as it goes, Thanos could win. We could switch to one of those other 14 million futures, and Thanos could win all over again."

"And how do we know if we're doing it right?" A voice popped up, and Strange found it from Peter Quill.

Strange gave an uneasy smile and shrugged. "That's where you are going to have to trust me. We'll know we're following it if we are winning." An uneasy feeling rippled through the crowd of heroes, and Strange knew it.

"I know I am asking a lot of you, but if we want to win and get out of this place, you have to trust me. Can I count on everyone?"

One by one he made eye contact with each of the heroes, getting a hesitant nod from them. When he finished on Loki, it was a while before he got an affirmative nod from him. At least everyone was with him. Strange sighed, feeling no more relieved that he was hours ago.

"So travel in small groups, two or three max, but stay in sight of another group. The last thing we want is to lose someone in this… place," he frowned, looking at the endless landscape of dangerous orange sand. "If you see Thanos, try to get out sight, but pass down the word. We'll attack as a group."

Wordlessly, heroes broke off into pairs and took off in search of the madman who had stuck them in the place with too much orange.


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey guys, this chapter took me a little longer to write, but it's here! And trust me, you'll like the next few chapters, we're picking up the pace! Anyway, there's more coming, and I hope you guys enjoy!**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **SirPikachu: Yep! I wanted to bring her back because I believe she is a big part of Peter.**

 **Alrighty, well that's all I got, I hope you like this chapter! Bye!**

* * *

"Please, tell me, what kind of tech do you use?" Shuri couldn't keep her questions in any longer, and the silence was getting unbearable. The groups had spread out, almost in like an invisible line, nearly a mile apart from one another, so they could still see them. You'd think there'd be a horizon line, something to tell when the soul stone world turned or fell off, but there was nothing. The sand stretched on forever and ever.

"What?" Peter mumbled, his mask momentarily off so he could rub his eyes. There was no way to tell time in this world, the orange sun moved around but it never disappeared completely to call it 'night'. It felt like they had been walking around for hours, but nobody could tell the difference whether it had been hours or days. There was no such thing as food, but nobody was hunger. Being dead, or 'dead' had its perks. They weren't hungry, thirsty, or tired. They were exhausted from walking around, but sleeping would be pretty hard. Peter was trying to get the energy to keep moving, while Shuri seemed to have unbounded limits of energy.

"Your suit. What kind of technology is in it? I've been working on shoes that can stick to walls, but nothing has worked as well as your's did right there," Shuri said, referencing when Peter was standing on the ceiling of the rock cave to help swing people up to the surface.

Peter was confused, muttering under his breath wondering what tech she was talking about until he realized her mistake. "Oh, my shoes? Like how I stick to walls?" Shuri nodded eagerly, and Peter laughed. "Well, it's not only my shoes, but it's also my whole body, and it's… not exactly technology."

That took Shuri by surprise and her face immediately scrunched up in concentration, trying to figure out how that would work. Peter opened his mouth to explain but she held up a hand, which shushed him. "Don't you dare, I'm going to figure this out."

Peter let her amuse herself for a few more minutes, with one of the few rare smiles of the day on his face. "You're never going to guess."

Shuri stuck her tongue out at him, but crossed her arms, going back to running over what might've happened, whispering to herself. Peter walked beside her, now grinning like an idiot, laughing when Shuri threw her hands up into the air and gave up.

"It was a spider," Peter started and Shuri looked at him suspiciously. "No, I'm not kidding. I was on a field trip with my school, we were checking out this scientist's experiments and when we were walking down a hallway, which had a ton of bugs and spiders, I feel something crawling up me. Before I could shake it off, this weird looking spider bit me, and then a few days later I woke up stuck to my ceiling."

Shuri's mouth opened up with the dawn of realization. "Wait, so that's…"

"My body. There's no tech when it comes to sticking. I can do it barefoot, hands, anything." Peter laughed when Shuri let out the breath she had been holding and looked at Peter in amazement.

"So you have legitimate _superpowers_?" Shuri practically shrieked, jumping up and down.

"Yeah, but chill, it's not that big of a deal," Peter exclaimed, a bit of pink rising up in his cheeks. He had never gotten this attention and appreciation before.

"No big deal?! That's a _huge_ deal! I wish I had then, all my stuff is just technology, it's not anything as cool as that!"

Now it was Peter's turn to gush on Shuri. "Your tech is no big deal? I grew up messing with radios and tv I picked out of the trash, and your brother told me you made his whole suit? The entire thing?" Shuri nodded and smiled, getting the same embarrassment Peter had. "That's not anything to laugh at, don't let something think you can't be a hero because you don't have powers. Using tech like that? That is your superpower."

"Shuri," the deep voice of her older brother called to her, and she looked over, making her face look over as innocent as possible.

"Yes, brother?" She answered politely, while Peter hid his smile behind his hand at the sudden change of tone.

"You need to be paying attention. It's good that you are making friends, but you need to be focused on the mission, not on each other. That goes for you too, Mr. Parker." Shuri and Peter both nodded seriously, but as soon as T'Challa turned away they broke into quiet giggles.

"I don't think he likes me very much," Peter whispered, but Shuri shook her head.

"No, he's just stressed out. We all are, but he was the King of Wakanda. Half of his people just died, and even more. He's feeling it a little more sometimes." Peter nodded and the two teenagers dropped into silence.

Not too far off from the teenagers and King of Wakanda, Wanda walked alone, mind wandering. She searched the surface with her mind, searching for any signs of activity or thoughts. There had been this weird feeling this whole time, nagging at the back of her head. It felt familiar and safe, but as soon as she tried to get a feel for where it was, it disappeared and it wouldn't show up again until she wasn't thinking about it.

And it was back again, pulsing in her head, now stronger than it had been before. Testing a theory, she slowly turned around. When her back was to the direction she was already walking, it got weaker, so she faced forward again. She twisted to the left, and it got even stronger. That's where it was coming from. For a second, she considered running off, just going after it. She was a big girl, she could handle herself, and it was familiar. It felt like her own, like the mind stone. If it was the mind stone, it could Vision. They had found two other people that had died, so why couldn't Vision be back?

As soon as she thought about running off, she remembered Strange's speech about having to listen to all his directions. Running off right then didn't feel like it would be good, and she didn't want to be the reason that Thanos wins. Deciding, she left her position in the invisible line and sprinted to Strange, who was in the center.

Dr. Strange was thinking back to the future he had seen and started a mental countdown. " _Five...four...three...two...one…"_

"Strange! I have an idea!" Wanda said right as she ran up to Strange.

"Yes?"

"So, there is this feeling, it's something with the mind stone, I can tell, and I think it's Vision. He's here." Wanda said, her accent slipping out with her rapid speech. Strange nodded seriously, even though he had already seen this conversation and how it plays out. Not only had he seen the future that they won, but he also couldn't _unsee_ it. His photographic memory was a blessing and a curse sometimes. If there was even one slip up, he was afraid they would lose all chance of beating Thanos.

"Good, but I'm warning you, it doesn't mean its Vision. Thanos had all the stones, remember?" Strange said, and the look on Wanda's face fell. "But I think we should follow it anyway. Where is it coming from?"

Wanda shut her eyes and concentrated, finding the most intense pounding and pointed to the direction, just off to the left. Strange nodded and had her sent out a telepathic message, bringing everyone together. With hushed voices, Strange explained the new plan.

"We believe that Thanos is close, so we're going to stay together. I think there is a cave up ahead, and that should give a little advantage. Keep your eyes open, and Wanda is going to keep up the link for now, so no talking out loud. If you notice something, think it, and we'll hear it."

Nervously, the group of heroes changed direction and stayed huddled together, everyone getting ready for a fight. Bucky tightened the cloth holding his hair so it wouldn't bother him and flexed his metal hand into a fist. Wanda rubbed her hands over her arms, checking the structure, hoping that her bones would hold out for the fight. T'Challa kept his face neutral, but the claws on his fingers popped out, a growl growing in the back of his throat. Shuri adjusted her vibranium gauntlet so they fit snugly over her hands, and wished she had her battle outfit, not her regular clothes. Peter put his mask back on, and he and Shuri shared a fist bump before turning serious. Fury and Hill checked their guns, which were only used minimally, and nodding at each other. Strange checked his hands, flexing them carefully, and exhaling a long breath. Quill went around and hugged all the Guardians, before turning and kissing Gamora. Loki stayed in the back, practicing his magic.

They saw the cave and they sprinted for it. Spider-Man crawled up the side while the other filled around behind and inside it, making sure it was all clear. Spider-Man peeked up over the rocks of the cave, eyes narrowing at the sight before him. A shabby looking throne, with a sheet and a broken looking throne. On the throne sat Thanos, with Vision lying motionless on the ground.

" _He's here_ ," Peter thought and everyone peeked around to get a look. But before Strange could give a direction, Thanos turned his big head directly towards the cave, standing up as he stared at the heroes with a malicious grin on his face.


	25. Chapter 25

**Oh my gosh, you guys are literally going to hate me, I'm so sorry, but this is vital to the story but please please please don't kill me, I promise I'll be up with the next chapter soon. Oh my gosh.**

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 **Ok, I'm going to leave you too it, but just an FYI, I cried myself writing this. Don't know, just a warning, don't hate me too much, please. I love you guys, you're awesome, and I'll be back soon with the next chapter!**

 **Bye!**

* * *

Various degrees of swear words were uttered as the Mad Titan looked directly at their 'hiding place'. They ranged from the low-level curses of a respectful king to the explosive expletives of teenagers and a World War II-era supersoldier. Without knowing, everyone looked to Strange, almost afraid to make another move in fear of giving Thanos the chance to win.

Strange kept his face neutral while it seemed that Thanos was looking directly at him. He felt the others waiting on him, but he had to wait for everything to play out.

" _On my go, Wanda I need to you grab Vision, and bring him back here, inside of the cave. See if you can get him back into the game. Groot, you are going to stay too, just for now,"_ Strange commanded through Wanda's link the two he specifically instructed nodded. " _Everyone else, on that same go, attack Thanos. Whatever means possible, just listen for my instructions."_

Just as Strange finished his thought, Thanos took large steps away from his little shelter, heading straight for them. The heroes tensed up, tension levels rising to extreme levels as the Titan took casual steps towards them. The infinity gauntlet sparkled off the strangely orange sun, his fist flexing open and shut.

" _Wait…"_ Strange thought as Thanos was only a few hundred feet away from them.

" _Wait…"_ He saw some of the heroes itching to go forward, but he sent out another warning. It wasn't the right time yet.

" _Wait…"_ Thanos was only about fifty feet out, and they only needed to wait for a second more.

"Now!" Strange shouted, and he and Wanda instantly shot up into the air. His cloak kept him hovering above the cave, while Wanda used her powers to cut through the air. She sailed over Thanos' head, who reached up and tried to grab her out of the air. He almost got his fist around her legs before Quill flew out from the side, using both of his guns to pistol-whip the titan across the face. At the same time, all of the remaining heroes attacked Thanos from every angle.

The unbelievable part was that Thanos was actually holding his own. He had traveled across the galaxy, fought the Guardians, the Avengers, the Wakanda army, ended up winning, and he still had the energy to take on them all.

Fury and Hill stayed near the ground, firing well-aimed shots at Thanos' legs, taking care that they didn't hit any of the good guys. As many shots as they took thought, the bullets didn't seem to have any effect on him. They didn't dare take a headshot, there were too many heroes around and too much of a chance they would hit one of their own.

The rest of the Guardians had followed behind Quill closely, rallying up on the Titan. Drax thought of his wife and child, who had been killed under Thanos' order and used that rage to get as close to him as possible. After throwing punches that did practically no damage to his thick skin, Drax and Mantis teamed up. With only a few verbal commands, Mantis took a running leap towards Drax, who grabbed her when she jumped and gave her an extra push towards Thanos' head. She landed on his shoulder and pressed her tiny hands to the sides of his head.

"SLE-" Mantis tried to use the same trick they did when they were on the planet Titan, but Thanos had seen it coming. Before Mantis could finish her command, he brought his hand up and slapped her off his shoulders, sending her flying off to the side and hitting the sand hard.

"Mantis!" Drax yelled and ran after the recently added member of the Guardians. Quill flew back around, firing his blasters at Thanos, who easily blocked them with the gauntlet. In return, Thanos sent off a shot from the power stone which hit Quill in the arm, losing one of his guns.

Gamora walked slowly and deliberately towards the titan, catching his eyes. The twisted father and the adopted daughter held eye contact as Gamora continued her walked and Thanos swatted off the rest of the heroes. With a mere thought, Thanos shot a purple wave and it hit all of the heroes, throwing them back so it remained only Gamora and Thanos, facing off.

"Little one," Thanos started, but Gamora held up her hand, effectively silencing. The rest of the heroes struggled to get back to their knees. Nobody seemed to remember that Thanos had control of the gauntlet and that it overpowered them by a good margin. But nothing said they would stop trying.

"Why?" Gamora asked, her sword hanging loosely at her side while her knuckles were white as she gripped the handle. "Why did you do it?"

Thanos cocked his head and gave a tiny smile at his favorite daughter. "I had too."

Gamora felt her emotions rising again, and she sprinted forward, holding her sword so the sharp point touched his throat. "That's not a good enough answer."

The smile that had been on Thanos' face dropped almost instantly, and in an instant he grabbed the sword and Gamora, bringing her up close to his face. A scowl grew in the smile's place, and Gamora struggled in his grip.

"That's the only answer you're going to get." With that, the heroes seemed rejuvenated, and they attacked with fresh new energy. T'Challa ran up with Shuri not far behind him and he jumped on the Titan, clawing at his face and eyes while Shuri short blasts of energy at the gauntlet, trying to move it, just a little bit. The blasts forced Thanos' arm back, and while they held it there, Spider-Man sprinted back, shooting webs at the glove. Bucky had run behind Thanos and kicked at the back of both of the titan's knees, sending him towards the ground. The Guardians grabbed the rest of his limbs and forced him until Thanos could barely move, with Parker and Bucky pulled at the webs trying to get the gauntlet.

Strange looked back towards the shack Thanos had his throne as Wanda had got to Vision, and was levitating him back towards the cave. He kept hovering in the air and kept half of his vision on her and the other on Thanos. As soon as Wanda was in the cave with Vision and Groot, Strange sent out his first set of instructions.

" _Spider-Man, Bucky, on my word, you need to let go of the gauntlet."_

Instantly, Strange got the reaction he had been expecting. Peter wasn't making any noise in real life, but his brain was shouting loud and clear. " _What? But we've nearly got it off!"_

Strange didn't have time to really argue, so he mentally shouted back just as loud. " _Parker, remember what I said? I know how this needs to turn out! So do it, three, two, one… now!"_

As much as felt it was a wrong move, Spider-Man and Bucky let got of the webs and Thanos' free arm swung back and forth, knocking aside heroes and villains alike. Right then, Loki jumped up on top of Thanos' shoulder, where Mantis had been original, two daggers poised in his hands and ready to stab into the titan's head.

However, when Thanos reached up to knock aside Loki, this hand ran through the air, the illusion of the trickster disappearing. Loki actually popped up right in front of Thanos, stabbing his real dagger into the center of Thano's chest. Thanos growled as the dagger stayed stuck in his chest, the first real hit of the hit. Loki had little time to celebrate because Thanos cocked his fist back. Loki squeezed his own fists and got ready to teleport out of the way when the doctor's voice entered his brain.

" _Loki, take the hit!"_ Loki didn't want to trust Strange, but he would rather listen to him than let Thanos win, so he stopped moving and let Thanos hit him. It was harder than he expected and he went flying backward.

Peter Parker was done. He'd had enough. He was tired of letting Thanos beat up his friends, and he was tired. Somehow his mind drifted to Mr. Stark, and how he had last seen him, all beat up. He didn't want that to happen to anyone else, so he made up his mind.

"Karen, activate instant kill mode," Parker said with the most authority he had ever used, but Karen was still slightly skeptical.

" _Are you sure, Peter?"_ Peter didn't have time for this, he had never felt this type of anger before.

"Do it!" He growled, his fists shaking at his sides.

" _Yes, sir."_ Suddenly, everything in Peter's vision went red and he knew he wasn't moving solely on his own anymore. He let the suit take control, sprinting up to Thanos and dodging all the punches that were thrown and hitting the titan with every chance he got. He used his webs to stick big purple limbs together, making it harder for Thanos to move and hit him in the head as much as he could. Peter felt good, he was winning. The suit had amazing capabilities, and he had never felt the need to use them before.

But just as he started to feel good, Peter slipped up. He stopped thinking about Thanos and taking him down, and he thought of Mr. Stark, which gave Thanos the perfect opportunity to get in his own hits.

While Peter was distracted, Thanos used the gauntlet to make a force field to hold back the other heroes, so it was just him and Peter.

"Oh no," Parker whispered out loud as Thanos grabbed him by the throat, and he let out a cry as he was slammed into the ground. While the heroes shouted their protests and threats and tried to break free of the invisible force that was keeping them from helping out their teammate, Thanos pummeled the teenaged hero.

Punch after punch after the punch was delivered, the next one just as hard as the others. When Thanos was finished, with a smile on his face he picked up the broken and motionless body of Spider-Man and tossed him to the side like he was trash.

"Spidey!" Shuri screamed, and sprinted over to her friend, dropping to her knees at his body, tapping the spot on the side of his neck and the mask came off. The furious heroes resumed their attack on Thanos, who had a wide grin on his face as if he had just won.

Shuri tried not to gasp as she took a look at Peter's face, completely covered in blood. The rest of his body laid out at an awkward angle, his eyes shut and his chest frozen. Shuri whispered prayers under her breath as she placed two fingers at Parker's bloody neck, praying to find a pulse.

"C'mon, Spidey, c'mon Peter, don't do this!" She screamed at Parker's lifeless body, tears starting to stream down her face. She checked again for a pulse and screamed when she couldn't find one.

"PETER!"


	26. Chapter 26

**Whew. Sooo, that took longer than expected, but it's finished. Sorry for the delay, but it's fun to make you guys wait with such a cliffhanger...**

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 **mfaerie32: Whoops? I know, it was mean**

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 **Alright guys, well, I can't help but leave you with another cliffhanger, but it's spring break and so I should have some time. Enjoy!**

* * *

Shuri couldn't believe what had happened. After everything that had happened today, after all the death and the battles and everything Thanos had done to them, there was this. Peter was dead, Thanos had killed him right before their very eyes. Tears freeling crawled down Shuri's face, unable to look away from Peter. They had met, what, only hours? Days ago? But she felt like no one else had ever know her more.

Suddenly she heard the gentle tap of feet hitting the sand behind her, and she turned around, energy gauntlets ready and aimed at the figure behind her. She half expected it to be Thanos, but when it turned out to be Dr. Strange, she didn't drop her guard.

"This is your fault," she whispered to herself first, almost as if she wasn't able to accept it. "It's your fault he's dead!" She said a second time, yelling at the doctor. A doctor who was supposed to save lives, not kill them.

"You knew this was going to happen, and he's dead!" Shuri screamed, running at Strange meaning to attack him the same way she was going to do to Thanos. In her anger, she forgot all of her training, and how she was supposed to fight, and Strange easily blocked her punches.

"I told you, I knew what was going to happen. You will have to trust-" Strange started to explain, but Shuri wasn't hearing any of it.

"I don't want to trust you! Not anymore! You killed Peter!" Shuri accused once again, and Strange was fed up.

"It wasn't me! I swear to you, I knew it would happen, but I also know what happens next. You need to _trust me_."

Shuri opened her mouth to say something else, but instead, she shut her eyes and turned around, opening and shutting. When she opened her eyes again, Peter's body was gone.

"What the-" Shuri started, staring back at Strange with shock on her face.

"The cave," he said vaguely, and Shuri took a second to process this before she took off at a full on sprint towards the cave that Wanda was in. She couldn't move fast enough, but when she reached the entrance of the cave, she came back with the shock for the umpeenth time of her life.

Peter was sitting up in the cave, hand pressed against his forehead and his eyes shut, _but he was alive_. Shuri ran towards him and dropped to the ground, pulling him into a tight hug. He wanted to, but couldn't return it. One arm was unmoving in his lap, and the other was keeping him upright. Shuri pulled him tightly and he groaned.

Shuri pulled back instantly, recognizing the same blood that he was still covered in. "You're…"

Peter gave a weak smile. "Alive. I have no idea how." He sucked in a deep breath when he shifted his leg, and Shuri slid down to sit beside him. Now that she got a good look at him, both of his legs were bent awkwardly, and one of his arms laid limply in his lap.

Shuri cursed profoundly, and that brought a laugh from Peter, which quickly turned into racking coughs. Shuri gently pounded his back until he was over the fit, and he mumbled a weak thanks. He looked sheepishly at Shuri, who stared back with nothing but concern as he asked his question. "Can you help me, uh, move my arm?"

Shuri looked back at his limp arm and saw that his shoulder hung down a little two low, and his features were pulled tightly together. Shuri shot a quick look over her shoulder, the only other people in the cave being Wanda, Groot, and the one they called Vision.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Shuri asked cautiously and Peter breathed in between his teeth as he gently moved his hand so it was in as straight of a line as he could.

Peter's eyes were shut, but he nodded. "I heal really fast. I need to get it back in place so it can heal right." Shuri looked at him skeptically, but sighed and kneeled behind him, putting her hands as gently as possible on the places he instructed.

"How do you know this is going to work?" She asked hurriedly, not wanting to do it wrong and end up screwing up his whole arm.

"I've done it myself before," he said nonchalantly, "but it's easier with two people." Shuri shook her head and almost laughed out loud. He was so casual but he had just brought up the fact that he had dislocated his shoulder multiple times.

"Shuri, just push it back into place, you'll feel a quick pop, and you're done. Countdown, so I know when you're about to do it."

Shuri breathed heavily, remembering what he told her to do, and did a slow countdown. _Three… two… one…_ Just like he described, a loud pop and a muffled scream from Peter later, his shoulder was back in. Peter laid back and took deep lungfuls of air, trying to even out his breathing. Dislocated shoulders were extremely painful, but as soon as it got back in, the pain nearly disappeared.

"Thanks," he said breathlessly, wiping his forehead, coming back slick with sweat and blood. Most of it had dried, the cuts at his temple and one gash down his cheek had mostly stopped bleeding, he just wished he could wash off the dried blood. There was only one more thing to worry about.

He gently rotated his shoulder, getting feeling back in place and feeling the tendons and muscles slowly growing back together, then focused on his legs. They weren't as bad as his shoulder, but it wasn't going to be an easy ride. He gently moved his right leg with his hands, grabbing at the knee and pulling it so it laid out straight in front of him. It was tight and sore, but the healing at already started. He repeated the actions with his other leg and sat in his spot breathing until they felt alright. Accelerated healing really was a blessing sometimes.

"Ok," Peter breathed, and stuck out his good hand up in the air towards Shuri, "Can you help me up?" His ruffled hair and lopsided smile made him look cute if you ignored the blood and grime, but Shuri was having none of it.

"Are you _kidding me?_ " Shuri practically shrieked, and Peter immediately dropped his hands to cover his ears.

"Hey! Please, be quiet, I'm trying to work," Wanda spoke up from being silent the whole time. She was kneeling over the grey body of Vision, her hands hovering inches from his body with red mist coming out from them.

"Sorry," the two teenagers whispered at the same time, cringing slightly. They continued their conversation in hushed voices, even though that did nothing to stop the tone from coming out.

"Shuri quit it. I'm fine, just help me up!"

Shuri put her hands on her hips and stared down at Peter, annoyance, and amusement mixed on her face. "If you think you're going back into that fight, you're insane."

Peter was done with this. He was fine, he wanted to get back into the fight and kill Thanos. "Maybe I am. Why are you so scared? I died, but I came back like two minutes later, or something. What's the problem, nothing can happen!" Peter said angrily, pushing up off the ground. "If you aren't going to help me, I'm going on my own."

Peter stood up shakily, his arms out to try and keep balance. When he tried to take a step forward, his knee buckled and he fell. Shuri leaped forward and caught him, throwing one arm over her shoulder and helped him stand. Silently, she helped him past Vision and Wanda and stood at the front entrance of the cave.

"Why do you want to go back to that? You said nothing could happen, when you died you came back and you were so casual about it. Aren't you scared? I thought you were _dead_." Shuri said quietly, voice choked with emotion. Peter looked down at Shuri, who was just a few inches shorter than him and gave a careful smile.

"I'm terrified. I thought I was gone, for good. And the only thing I could think about was how many people I was leaving behind for Thanos to kill. I hated the thought of that, and next thing I know, I was waking up in the cave." Peter sighed and pushed back a piece of hair that was falling in his face. "I'd sacrifice myself any day if that means keeping the ones I love safe. That doesn't mean it's not scary."

Shuri gave a small smile, understanding where he was coming from. That's what a hero does. Making up her mind, she decided to just go for it. She leaned up and kissed him on his cheek, smiling. "Well, try to stay alive for me, just for now."

"Yes, ma'am," he chuckled, and they turned back to the fight. The heroes had picked up their slack after Peter had 'died' attacking Thanos with more energy that ever before. Step by step, Shuri helped Peter walk back into a fight. First, he was limping along, arm over her shoulder. Then his arm was off and he walked on his own, hands out to the side for balance. Then he was taking normal strides without any help, then they were running.

Peter pushed a button on the side of his neck and his mask popped back on, and together Peter and Shuri sprinted back into the fight.

The heroes cheered when Spider-Man joined them, half of them in confusion, but he was back. From his spot above the fight, Dr. Strange smiled. It was going according to plan, at least for now.

The fight was a blur of action. Everyone worked together in a fluidity that hadn't been used before. They were a machine, giving hit after hit, relentlessly after the Mad Titan. They attacked in groups, swarms of them surrounding the Titan at all sides while the others took a short break or attacked from a long distance. As soon as that group was falling, another switched and took their place. After what seemed like years of fighting, Thanos was starting to look tired.

Quill was flying around the Titan, aiming for his big purple head and shooting at it when it was open. Occasionally he would fly right for Thanos, diving in to deliver a punch or help out a teammate when they seemed to run out of energy. Quill thought he would never be out of energy again. Thanos had put such a rage, a fury inside of him, he felt like he could take on the Titan himself.

He wanted to, more than anything he wanted to take Thanos on, but after what had happened last time, he didn't want to risk losing again just for a personal vendetta. He had learned his lesson, he didn't need a repeat.

Bucky sat on the side, on one knee, breathing heavily. T'Challa had just traded places with him, giving him a second to catch his breath. He twisted his metal arm around at the shoulder, working out the kinks. Sand was really the worst thing for him. It got caught in all of the cracks and made it hard to move. He rubbed his other hand over his face, wiping away blood and dust, and standing back up. It was a hard fight, but they were winning.

A sudden noise behind him caught his attention, and he smiled. Wanda was walking out of the cave, eyes as red as the powers the floated around her. "Ooh, you're in trouble now, bucko," Bucky whispered to Thanos as the Titan locked eyes with Scarlet Witch.

She walked casually at first, letting her powers travel around her fingers before she shot up into the air and she up the pace of the fight. Her energy grabbed his throne from behind them and threw it right at his head. He smashed it with his fist, sending it veering off towards Shuri. T'Challa swiped at Thanos' legs, leaving long gashes from purple skin. It seemed they _could_ make him bleed. Quill and Gamora took turns delivering blows on his arms, keeping him from punching anything else.

Spider-Man used his webs to attach to Thanos, swinging around and dropping to the ground where Shuri was. The throne that had hit her fell on her leg, and she was struggling to get it off. Peter grunted and lifted the bigger than normal chair off her leg, and dropped down so they were eye to eye.

"You okay?" he asked, checking over his shoulder at the fight.

"Yeah," she hissed, grabbing at her ankle. "I just think I sprained my ankle."

"Hold on," he said and stood back up so he was covering Shuri. He stared up at a chunk of wood that was flying towards him, and when it got close enough he punched it, snapping it down the center and it fell harmlessly to the side.

"Show off," Shuri grunted, but there was a smile on her face.

"It hurts more than you think," Peter joked, and turned back to her ankle. "Hold it straight." Carefully, he webbed around her ankle, weaving it around tightly so it was stiff and rigid. When he finished, he grabbed her and helped her stand up, where she could put some pressure on it.

"Thanks," she said, and they ran back into the fight.

With Thanos on the losing side, he looked up to Strange, who was watching from above. Thanos had to talk to him.

Strange felt Thanos watching him, and they made eye contact. His face turned from neutral to concern when Thanos suddenly smiled, which was never a good sign. With one snap of his wrist, purple energy shot out from the infinity gauntlet and hit all of the heroes. Strange was knocked out of the air and he hit the ground. He pushed up on his arms and spit sand out of his mouth.

When he looked up again his mouth dropped open, and Strange shot to his feet. All around him, all of the heroes laid motionless on the ground, eyes open wide and vacant as they stared at the side. Blood was spilled on the bodies and the orange sand, heroes laying on top of one another as if they were trying to protect each other. Strange didn't have to check to know. They were all dead. Thanos stood in the middle of the massacre and grinned.

"I know what it's like to lose," his deep voice rumbled. "Now it's your turn."


	27. Chapter 27

**Whew, well then, this one is shorter, but I hope it gives some answers. So, I know half of you probably want to kill me, but hold off just a little longer, I promise it will get better. Well, maybe...**

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 **Frost Deejn: Ok, just first I love reading your reviews, they make me like _really_ think about my story and how it all pieces together and I love it. So yes, they can't actually die in the soul stone, which includes Thanos. And also, yes, all the stones are still in the gauntlet, so that technically means the soul stone is inside of it's itself. A little confusing, I know, but yes.**

 **Thanks, everyone for all the reads and awesome reviews, so I'll leave you guys to the next chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Strange stared at Thanos, mocking horror. He needed to make it look realistic because if Thanos didn't believe it, their whole plan was ruined. He saw this happen already in the one out of 14 million possibilities. Strange knew exactly how it played out. He also saw, just behind the purple ring of energy that knocked everyone down, a tint of bright red which meant the reality stone. No one was really dead, Thanos was just trying to make it look like they were. Thanos was trying to trick him, but the Titan was going to get played in his own game.

"What did you do?" Strange shouted, putting unused rage and anger into his voice to make it as loud as possible.

Thanos laughed, looking down at his glove and flexing it in front of him. "What I was made to do."

Strange sighed and rolled his eyes. "When are you going to get over this god complex? You aren't a god, you won't ever be a god, so why don't you just stop?!"

Thanos tilted his head and looked at Dr. Strange. "I took the life out of the world. If I am not a god, what am I?"

"A sadistic serial killer."

Thanos laughed, short but loud. "Smart. I call it self sufficient. People will be able to eat now, without worry of running out of food."

"No, they won't have to worry about food because they are going to be worrying about the loved ones that disappeared before their eyes because they are gone!" Strange shouted, his emotions getting ahold of him. With each shout and curse, he took a step forward, while behind the Titan he saw the supposedly dead version of Mantis break out of the reality stone's hold and wave at him.

"Why couldn't you use the stone a different way? You have the _infinity stones_. Why not make more resources? Get more crops, instead of wiping out billions of people! Living breathing people!"

"A necessary sacrifice. Creating more food would have never worked," Thanos said calmly, and Strange shook his head. Behind the back of Thanos, Mantis snuck forward, silently taking steps towards the titan, eyes wide in focus and nervousness.

Before Thanos could open his mouth and give another lame excuse, Mantis jumped back up on top of Thanos, placing her hands on each side of his head, just like she had tried to do multiple times. "SLEEP!" she screamed, and this time Thanos couldn't fight it. His eyes slipped shut, and he fell to his knees. Instantly, the future that the reality stone had created of the dead heroes slipped away, and they leaped back to their feet, cheering. They had brought him down, now they just had to finish him.

Their celebration was cut short because they needed to make sure that Thanos couldn't move. Wanda stood behind Thanos and used her powers to hold down all his limbs, except for the one that held the gauntlet. Spider-Man wrapped webs around Thanos and stuck them to the ground and broken pieces of concrete from this 'throne', before going to the side of the gauntlet. He shot the next two webs at the gauntlet, pulling them tight. He felt it snag on the massive hand, and he called for others to help.

T'Challa and Bucky ran to help, digging their hands behind the metal to try and peel it off. In his forced sleep, Thanos mumbled protests, but he couldn't do anything to fill the empty threats. The glove was tricky, but it was nearly slick and sliding off when suddenly Strange interrupted them.

"Don't take it off! Knock the soul stone loose!" Strange shouted running over to them. They stood frozen, the gauntlet half off Thanos' hand.

"Why on earth would we not take off the glove? Even if we take out one, he's still got the other five!" Bucky shouted back, not in the mood to lose their one shot of possibly winning.

"Bucky, just let go!" Strange said forcefully, looking at Thanos. His eyes were fluttering, and Mantis was breathing hard.

"I'm losing hold of him!" Mantis screamed, and Strange pushed Bucky and T'Challa out of the way. Parker kept Thanos' arm still as Strange reached to the top of the infinity stone, using his magic to grab the soul stone. Putting all of his strength behind his magic, he ripped the soul stone free from the gauntlet's grasp and Thanos snapped out of his trance. He threw Mantis off and stumbled backward, gasping at his hand.

Where the soul stone was left an empty gap, and suddenly, the metal glove gave out little sparks like it was made of electricity. Strange let the soul stone hover over his palm, his magic helping keep it in his grip. Together as one, the heroes surrounded Thanos, leaving him no room to run out from them. Thanos took deep breaths and looked around wildly, his options reduced to all but one.

Desperate, Thanos did the last thing he was able to. He pointed to the sky and in a blink, he disappeared in front of the heroes very own eyes. Everyone stared in astonishment before the soul stone in Strange's hand slowly started to get out of his reach.

"Get back here," Strange muttered, calling up more magic to prevent the stone from rising any further. But the more magic he used, the easier it was for the stone to get farther from his grasp. Wanda noticed his problem and ran over to join him, her red powers mixing with Stranges to try and keep the stone.

By then the rest of the heroes had noticed, watching intently as their only hope of escape rose farther and farther towards the orange sky. They shouted protests and tried their own versions of getting the stone back, each one failing. Soon, the stone simply blinked out of existence, just like Thanos had done.

"No!" Strange shouted, hitting his fist into the palm of his other hand. Everyone looked downcast and whispered among themselves as Strange stalked off to the cave where they had found to think. He wanted to be alone, but almost as soon as he sat down, the Avengers were there, surrounding him, asking him questions.

Strange kept his hands over his eyes as he was asked question after question, all of which he didn't know the answer to.

"What just happened?"

"Thanos can't teleport like that without the soul stone, but we had it when he did. How did he do that?"

"Where did the soul stone go?"

"Calm down, Stephen, you said you saw everything happen, so it's okay. We'll be alright…"

"You don't understand!" Strange shouted, instantly standing up from the rock he was standing on and walking to the front of the cage.

"This is a problem because I didn't see this happen!" The crowd instantly fell silent, understanding the implications of what the doctor had just said. Strange took a breath and started again, quieter. "That wasn't supposed to happen. We were supposed to have the stone."


	28. Chapter 28

**Hey guys, so here you go! You know the drill, so I'll see you later!**

 **REVIEWS:**

 **mfaerie32: Yep.**

 **SirPikachu: Yes! That's what I was going for.**

 **Broken Silhouettes: Thanks so much! I am having such a great time writing this, so I am overjoyed to hear that you are loving it so much!**

 **Frost Deejn: Yes, pretty much everyone knows there inside of the stone, sorry if I did not make that clear.**

 **Alright guys, one last thing before I go, I would like to ask of a favor. I can't really remember, I may have put this in the beginning of my story or I might not have, I'm not sure, but if you haven't noticed in my story, I don't swear. I really try not too, and I would totally appreciate it if in the reviews you guys could try not to swear as well. This is not because of a single person, but it has shown up a few times and I let it slide, but I would like to ask to try and do that for me. I love that you guys are comfortable with expressing yourself about my story in the reviews, and I truly love reading them, but I would like to ask that we try not to swear. I understand, every has the right to saw what they want to say, and the only reason I am saying this now is because I can't tell if I did it in the beginning. This won't come up again, but please, as a courtesy to me, please try not to swear.**

 **Whew. Okay, anyway, with that out of the way, here's the next chapter of the story! I'll post the next one soon! Enjoy!**

* * *

The mood had turned from a joyful win to downright depressing. The fleeting thought of actually getting a chance to win was gone, out of everyone's minds. Getting the soul stone was their last chance of escaping, and that disappeared with Thanos. So everyone turned to the next thing: cleaning up. The world was silent, except for the occasional rustle of wind blowing the sand, but everyone seemed to communicate without speaking of thinking. The process was natural, implemented in everyone's brains after years of fighting.

The first step was to check out one another. Sometimes in a large group, but this time the heroes broke off into small groups to make sure they were all right. Triage was applied, just like any battlefield or hospital, the most life-threatening injuries first. The Guardians were all huddled together, families stick together after all. Groot focused on his arms, wrapping more twigs around the area of his forearm to make it stronger, but he couldn't keep his mind of the one missing person.

"I am Groot," he whispered sadly, and instantly the rest of the Guardians turned to their youngest member and looked at him with the same sad faces.

"I know buddy, we miss Rocket too." Quill and the rest of the group tried to ignore the fact that Groot didn't use Rocket's name. Ever since the battle, they had heard Groot crying to Rocket but it broke their own heart's too much to say anything other than vague comforts.

"I am Groot, I am Groot…"

" _Dad, dad…"_

They fell back into silence, and Quill turned back to Gamora, where he was wiping a bit of blood away from her forearm with a ripped piece of cloth. She rested her head on his shoulder, hand entwined with his. Ever since they had found each other again, they haven't let go if they could help it.

Mantis was sitting on her knees, hands folded carefully in her lap. Her head hung low, trying to hide the tears that ran down her cheeks. Mantis was exhausted. Her powers took a real toll on her, and they were a blessing and a curse at the same time. Her empathy gave her the awesome ability to sense others feelings and helping encourage them to different ones. But the terrible side to it came in the same form. Whatever they were feeling, she felt it too, sometimes in double of what they were.

Mantis wanted nothing more than to hug Drax, to hold his hand, lean on his shoulder, any form of contact. But with the downcast look on everyone's faces, she knew if she even brushed his skin, or any of their skin for the matter, she would get hit by the same feeling. Mantis was already upset, she didn't need the other's emotions riding on her.

Drax could tell something was wrong by the way Mantis was avoiding everyone. When they had all sat down, he had tried to sit with her. But as soon as he was in reach of her, she flinched and backed away, sitting as far from all of them as possible. Drax wasn't great with emotions and feelings, that was her job. He definitely wasn't great with saying the right thing either, he knew that. But when the normally most happy person in the room was crying, he wanted to help.

There wasn't much he knew he could do, so he tried his best. Her power was empathy, so she felt what he felt. What if he thought something happy, could see too? So Drax shook his head, tried to push everything about the battle and what Thanos had done to the back of his head and bring up a happy memory. There wasn't much, his life was full of death and destruction. He had to go way back, back to before he was nicknamed "The Destroyer".

Drax tentatively went to tap Mantis' shoulder, but she saw it coming and flinched away, turning her face away.

"Mantis." She turned and looked into Drax's face, where he tried to give an easy smile. "Trust me."

She sniffed and nodded, and his hand was held out in front of her, where she grabbed it gently. She braced herself for the onslaught of sad memories, but she was genuinely surprised.

" _Daddy, Daddy!" The little girl sprinted up to her dad, little pink dress flowing behind her. The purple grass was crushed underneath her little white shoes, and bright red hair was brought up into pigtails._

" _Kamaria!" Drax shouted, picking up his little daughter and spinning her around in the air. She giggled and the laughter brought the biggest smile to Drax's face. When he finished spinning together they dropped down the grass next to Drax's wife, Hovat._

" _You guys are too silly," Hovat laughed as Drax tickled Kamaria's little stomach._

" _Stop it, tickle monster!" Kamaria shrieked in between laughs, trying to crawl away from her father's tickling hands._

" _I'm not the tickle monster, I'm Drax!" Drax shouted, which made Kamaria only laugh harder. Hovat watched with a small smile while they played, the strikingly blue sun shining on them. Drax looked over to see his wife, and a wide grin spread across his face. Hovat saw the look and raised a threatening fighter at him._

" _Drax, don't you dare."_

" _I dare!" Drax had turned his tickling from his daughter to his wife, who couldn't resist laughing out loud. Kamaria joined her father and everyone tickled each other, not a care in the world._

"Drax," Mantis said, tears in her eyes. But these tears weren't of sadness, they were happy tears. "That was beautiful."

Drax grunted, neither in thanks or apology, just accepted it. He focused on that new feeling long enough so Mantis could lean against Drax and close her eyes. She focused on the happy feeling too, spreading it out long enough for them to enjoy the feeling.

Suddenly, an idea popped into her head, and she gave a small smile. Taking a deep breath, she took the pure emotion from Drax's memory, the happiness, the joy, and spread her arms out wide. Yellow energy flew out from her fingertips and slowly touched the minds of all the heroes around her. Momentarily the happy feeling rested in their brains. By no means was it a cure or an immediate solution for the depressive state, but it lifted spirits just a bit, enough to make an impact.

Mantis finished with a watery smile on her face, mouthing 'thank you' to Drax. While she looked away, Drax would never admit it but he felt some of his own tears.

Bucky stayed close to Wanda, not straying very far from the emotional girl. Bucky had seen various forms of those same emotions the entire time she had been caring for Vision. Vision, well, he wasn't looking too good in Bucky's opinion. He was still grey and motionless, his forehead broken in slightly crushed. Wanda whispered to herself in Russian over and over again, trying various spells and tricks to bring him back. Bucky didn't want to say anything but his best bet was that Vision wasn't coming back, not at least without the mind stone. Which Thanos still had.

" _Wanda,"_ he said softly in Russian, snapping Wanda out of her trance above Vision to stare at him, her eyes slightly red. " _Take a break. Come here."_

" _I can't take a break, I need to fix him, I need to bring him back…"_ She ranted, running out of breath and Bucky knew it was enough. He groaned and stood up, walking over to her and gently placing his arm over her shoulders, dragging her away from Vision. He sat her down a few feet away, making her look at him.

" _He will be fine, just break a few minutes."_ Wanda keep looking over her shoulders, but she sighed and Bucky knew that he won one of the many battles yet to come. Gently, while he had her attention, he checked her out to make sure she wasn't critically injured.

" _Are you hurt anywhere?"_

Wanda shook her head. " _I don't think so. Not any more than before."_

" _How are your arms?"_

" _Fine."_ Wanda was lying big time, and Bucky was skeptical of it. Ever since she had started to try and heal Vision, then fight Thanos, the pain in her arms had increased like it had when she broke it before. Bucky seemed to know this, and gently took her hands in his.

" _Take a break,"_ he pleaded, eyes wide and full of concern. He had worried about someone this much since he was a young adult in Brooklyn, looking after a reckless teenager named Steve. " _Please. I'll watch Vision."_

Wanda stared at him carefully, but nodded when Bucky didn't give up his position. With one final glance at Vision, who had not moved from where she had tended to him moments before, she gave in and laid down. With her head in Bucky's lap, he gently ran a hand through her hair as she shut her eyes, trying to let the memories of the battle fade away.

The two regular humans sat one of the farthest away from someone else, neither of them completely relaxed. Fury was cleaning up Hill first, while she held a tight grip on her gun while he use part of his shirt to wipe off blood from a gash down her arm. When he finished, Fury tied the cloth around tight and used it as a bandage, and they switched positions. Fury kept his one eye open on all the surroundings while his wounds were taken care of. It was quick and it was orderly, just like SHIELD.

Once they were both finished, they did a headcount of everyone around. One person was unaccounted for, Loki. Immediately, they both stood and searched for them, only to slightly relax when they found out he was behind them, just out of sight. Fury groaned as he watched the God of Mischief try to tie a strip of cloth around his arm on his own, and failing miserably.

Going against his better judgement, Fury holstered his gun and walked over to Loki, who looked at him suspiciously. Without words, Fury walked behind Loki and finished tying up the bandage for him. Loki managed a surprise nod, while Fury only scowled at him.

"This doesn't make up for trying to kill me."

T'Challa was fussing too much over Shuri in her opinion. "Brother! I am fine, Peter really helped."

T'Challa shot a looked at Spider-Man, who was sitting next to Shuri while she wiped at the cuts on his face. She was referring to her ankle, which was feeling much better thanks to Spider-Man's webs. She herself was doubtful at first thinking that it would work, but surprisingly, it kept her foot in place and relatively pain free. Peter tried to give a smile to the King of Wakanda, but hissed when Shuri poked on of the gashes too hard.

"Sorry," she whispered, holding back a small laugh. Peter looked at her and rolled his eyes while T'Challa turned away to watch the rest of the camp.

"I still don't think he likes me," he whispered, which made Shuri laugh even harder.

"You'll be fine. He just needs to warm up to you."

"I don't think he ever will…"

The two teenagers sat side by side, listening to the rest of the sounds. Which was nearly nothing really, just some occasional wind and whispers of the other heroes.

"Peter, do you think we'll ever get out of here?" Shuri asked seriously, looking over at him. She expected a grin, some sort of joke and play it off, but he was just as serious as her.

"I don't know," he sighed, and she knew he was being honest. "I hope so. I want to see other people again. I don't want to be stuck, here forever. I mean, we're not really dead right?"

"Right," Shuri said unconvincingly. She didn't know for sure. They had all supposedly 'died', but in the fight Peter had died and come back again. It was too confusing to think about, but at the same time, she wanted answers. They all wanted answers, but no one knew what they could be.

The last person was sitting all alone, trying to figure everything out. Strange sat on top of the cave, trying to find some solitude in the endless landscape of oddly orange sand, just alone in his thoughts. He didn't necessarily want to be alone, his mind could be a dangerous place by himself. But there was no other way to figure anything out. How did Thanos disappear? Why did the stone go along after?

The biggest one haunted him, the one with the most catastrophic impact. He had seen the future, the outcome that needed to win. And they had followed everything exactly through. So why where they left without the stone? Strange needed answers, but he also didn't want them. It was gone. All of it was gone. All their hard work, the fighting, the struggle to keep everything perfectly right was thrown to the curb. Nothing else would help them win, and Thanos was going to be the ruler of everything.

There was no use to life anymore in Strange's opinion. They were as good as dead anyway.

Not so far from their predicament in the soul stone, Thanos was considering his own options. He wasn't exactly sure how he escaped the soul stone's grasp either, but he was glad to be out of it. There was no way to die in the stone, it was practically death itself. But he would've never escaped from the heroes grasp, so he would've had to live in a eternal cycle of dying over and over again. Whatever that was didn't sound appealing. Thanos guess even away from the gauntlet, he still had some sort of connection to the stone, because of the sacrifice he had made, that let him escape.

But he was free, traveling through space in what seemed to be a sort of tunnel. He whizzed by planets and galaxies and solar systems, all the vanished right in a blink of an eye. He looked back and saw the stone behind him, darting around like a little ball of light. He needed to find a place to stop, a place he could rest.

An idea came to his head, and he was certain it was one of the best ones. Thanos thought of the place he needed to be, the place where he could rule. Half of its population was wiped out, there would be no resistance. They would be looking for a new ruler, something he could provide. Thanos was going back to Earth.


	29. Chapter 29

**Alright, so it's time to get my head out of the clouds and put my feet back on Earth. I haven't continued the story from this perspective for a long time, but here we are!**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **SirPikachu: Yep, not good for our heroes, but definitely good for the plot ;) Thanks for reviewing!**

 **Alrighty, guys, that's all I got for you. Spring break is ending soon, so I might not get to post as often as I would like, but I WILL finish this ding-dong thing before Endgame comes out in April, so I've got my work cut out for me...**

* * *

Unaware of the threat that was slowly making his way towards Earth, the rest of the heroes were slowly making their way through the plan. They had no idea where or when Thanos would be back, but they knew he would be. And as soon as he touched down, they would be there to stop him.

"Ok, my satellites are up, their searching for heat signatures and space interferences in the atmosphere," Tony shouted from across the room, furiously typing at one of the computers with Pepper by his side. As soon as she had flown in they hadn't been separated since. There was no way Tony was going to lose her again.

Inside the Wakandan palace, it was chaos. It was loud and busy, heroes running around gathering weapons, planting signals, contacting law enforcement and governments around the world with basic knowledge of what's going on, and emergency procedures.

Rhodey had gotten six frantic calls from Ross, first to find out what in the world was going on, half of the world leaders and the population had just disappeared. Rhodey had told him that they had it under control, that the heroes that remained would take care of it. Right after that phone call he had immediately got five others of Ross screaming over the phone how them meeting together went against the Sokovia accords. Rhodey had listened for a while, started fighting back, and when Ross wouldn't give it up, Rhodey just blocked him.

"Your Highness if we don't get those shields down now, there's no way to make sure Thanos lands here!" Natasha shouted to the Queen Mother as she ran along the side, slamming magazines into her guns.

Ramona sat at in the throne with Okoye by her side with the Kimoyo beads showing a 3D representation of Wakanda. The force fields were in full force, and two little beeping dots showed two figures running along the side of the fields. The Outriders, the alien creatures that were at the forefront of the battle, continued to try and force their way in. When they didn't seem to stop their attack on the close force field, Cap and Thor went to finish them off.

With rejuvenated energy and rage, the god and the supersoldier were unstoppable. There were more Outriders dead than alive, but they needed to finish all of them off. Ramona understood the need to open the field, but she also needed to protect her people. Opening the force field would give Thanos the false hope that they were weak and defenseless, letting him drop there to rest and they would attack when he was down. But bringing them down before Cap and Thor were finished given the chance that the Outriders could come into Wakanda and attack its citizens.

Ramona's hand hovered over the button that would bring down the shield around her kingdom but wasn't touching it. Even moving at the fastest they've ever done before, the two bright dots that represented the heroes were only about halfway done with the rest of the Outriders. She couldn't risk her people getting hurt.

Everyone that wasn't on a computer watching signals or scanners was taking up tables and floors getting weapons ready. Nebula and Rocket were side by side, momentarily forgetting the tension that had shown up earlier, cleaning out weapons. Nebula had rested from her ordeal to get the ship flying, and she was ready to kill the man that once called her daughter. Rocket was right beside her, cleaning out his gun making sure it was in prime condition.

The remaining members of the Dora Milaje grabbed various vibranium weapons and passed them out to those who didn't have weapons. Spears, shields, energy blasters were fitted over the hero's suits and tested out sparingly.

Scott flipped his helmet on and tested that the suit still worked. Being under house arrest, he hadn't gotten a lot of time to wear the suit until he broke out with Hope and Hank to find Janet. He had tried not to think about them, but it was a losing battle. He was going to think about them, and he was going to use it to help him beat Thanos.

Clint checked his arrows, making sure his quiver was on tight and was gently placed on top of the intersection between the two scabbards that held identical katanas. The handles stuck out just above his shoulders, so he could easily reach an arrow for his bow, or a sword. He had added the katanas as an extra weapon, which was passed down to him with a new suit. The previous holder had been called Ronin, characterized by a black suit with some yellow lines, but he didn't know if he liked it yet. It had a hood and good arm guards and knee pads, but it was always harder to switch to a new costume. The t-shirt and jeans that he had come in were stuffed in his backpack on the jet he flew in on. If the suit didn't work out, his Hawkeye suit was stowed away on the jet too. Clint looked around and saw Natasha running around, suit filled with weapons. That's the plus when you are master assassins, you have a million weapons. Clint had a bow and arrow, two katanas, a gun strapped to his thigh with a hunting knife on his back, and another small knife in his boot. But no matter how many weapons he had, Natasha definitely had more.

Finding Cooper next, he gave a small smile and walked over to his son. Cooper looked up from playing with Tango and smiled at his dad. Cooper had never seen this suit before, and his mouth dropped open in awe. It was so cool.

"Hey buddy," Clint said gently, letting Tango walk around his legs. "I'm going to have to go soon, but you're going to hang out here where it's safe. I'll get you a friend to play with." There was no way Clint was bringing his last son out to the field where Thanos could get a hold of him, but he didn't want to let him out of sight.

Cooper nodded, understanding. He looked down at the cat and tilted his head back up with a sly smile on his face. "Dad, I can I see one of the swords?"

Clint chuckled and gently slid one of the katanas out and held it in front of Cooper, who looked blown away.

"Can I…?" Clint nodded and Cooper grabbed the handle of the katana, holding it out in front of him. "This is so cool!" He whispered, turning the sword over in his hands and looking at the shiny metal. He held it up close to him and he could see his reflection.

Out of the blue, an alarm started going off and Tony immediately stood up from his seat. "We've got something, coming in fast!" Clint ruffled Cooper's head and grabbed the katana, wielding it as he sprinted to the computer just like the other heroes. They all crowded around the screen, watching a small shape flying slowly growing bigger as it broke through the atmosphere and barreled for Wakanda.

"Your Highness, we need the force field down now!" Natasha shouted, but Rhodey interrupted her.

"Wait. That's not big enough to be Thanos…" Rhodey said quietly, and everyone took a closer look at the heat signature on the screen. He was right, that wasn't nearly the size of the Mad Titan. It was the right size for a human.

"Who is it then?" Bruce asked, standing on his tiptoes to see over the tower of people hovering around the screen.

They all watched carefully as the new person flew directly towards where Captain America and Thor were fighting. "I guess they'll find out soon," Rocket said cynically.

Everyone held their breath as they watched the dot approached where the ones indicating their heroes were, waiting for some confrontation. There wasn't enough time to pull up satellite images of the field so they could see who it was, but their question on what side the new person was on quickly got answered. The instant after the dots had taken that break, the new third one made their move and blasted out the dots representing the Outriders in a matter of seconds.

"Uh… what just happened?" Rhodey asked, trying to figure out how they had just gone from more Outriders than they could handle every single one of them dead. Then, at the same rate the new player had taken out the Outriders, they picked up their two heroes and flew for the palace.

Without having to say anything, each of the remaining Avengers and heroes turned around at the same time, watching the doors that led up to the throne room. They didn't have to wait very long until Cap and Thor showed up with the new person. Some of the heroes stood on the defensive, weapons out and ready to face the possible attacker, while others played the peacemaker and wanted to work things out diplomatically if they were an enemy. Either way, whoever they were, they just helped out finishing the Outriders, so they had to be something good.

The new player defied most of the heroes' expectations, first and foremost, it was a woman. A woman with long blonde wavy hair that hung past her shoulders and wore a red, gold and blue space suit. The woman followed behind Cap, a careful expression on her face that didn't betray her true emotion. Her arms were relaxed, but her stance showed that she was ready to fight these strangers the second something was off.

Tony stepped forward, flashing one of his paparazzi smiles that almost seemed to sparkle. "Tony Stark. Who are you?" He stuck his hand out and she looked down at it, almost mockingly before grabbing it with her own. She made sure to squeeze a little harder than normal, bending metal slightly.

"Sup. Carol Danvers."


	30. Chapter 30

**Oh my gosh, guys, I'm so sorry, I said I was going to get this chapter out quick but life got in the way and I had huge writer's block, so it took me especially long to update. Again, I'm sorry, but I hope this chapter will make up for the miss.**

 **REVIEWS:**

 **Broken Silhouettes: One, it was really good, I really liked the movie. Two, I'm not going to be doing spoilers, there may be like one, but it's not big at all. I'm going to be making my own kind of backstory for her, just some flashbacks and stuff, there shouldn't be anything that big.**

 **mfaerie32: Yep! She's here!**

 **SirPikachu: Oh yeah!**

 **Frost Deejn: Thanks for the advice! I went back and edited the paragraph a little more, so hopefully, it flows better. And I hope I answer your other questions with this chapter today!**

 **Bludrayn21: Thanks!**

 **Alrighty, guys, I'm sorry for the wait, but here is the next part! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Where's Fury?" Carol asked after introductions finished. She could barely contain a smile when she learned the group of people was named the 'Avengers'. Fury had done well. But when she had been flying around in space, the pager she had given him buzzed, she knew something was wrong. Carol had told him it was only for emergencies, but he was nowhere to be found. Quite frankly, in her eyes, he was the only person she could trust.

The rest of the heroes shared an uneasy look, and Carol didn't like it. "What? What happened to Fury?" Instantly her mind when to the worst place, thinking about what could have possibly happened.

One of the men that had been out fighting turned to her, face old and worn with his eyes downcast. "We lost him."

Carol blinked and stared blankly at Steve. "Come again?" Steve sighed. She had no idea what had just happened. She listened intently as he explained what had happened, all because of one mad Titan who thought he could rule the world by wiping out half of it. Because of one snap, half of the population of the universe was gone. Carol stared intensely as she thought about this. There were too many missing pieces, too many things they didn't know. One question stuck out to her the most. The remaining heroes were running around, trying to be prepared for Thanos' return, but how did they know he was coming back to Wakanda?

"Why would he come back here? He has no reason to," Carol argued. None of this made sense. What did Earth have left for him? What did Wakanda have left for him?

This time Tony perked up, not looking up from the computer he was hunched over. "There's not a whole lot of evidence, we're going off assumptions. But he's been here already, it's familiar. It's also the last place that he…won…" Tony said practically spitting out the word. He didn't want to call that battle a win for Thanos, but there was no way the heroes won either.

"He wants to rule, right? He wants glory, fame, power, and coming to the place where he wiped out half of the heroes would give him a sense of satisfaction. I think. We're hoping that he comes back thinking there is little to resistance. If we wait it out and he shows up here, we can attack." Tony took a deep breath and stood up from his computer, finally making eye contact with Carol.

"I'm betting money that he comes to Wakanda. But if he doesn't, my satellites are watching the whole globe. Wherever he lands, we'll find him."

Carol nodded, not completely satisfied, but she was a very unsatisfactory person. She wouldn't believe Thanos was coming back until she saw him with her very own eyes. But standing in the middle of the chaos as Avengers ran around her, getting weapons and preparing for his return, Carol knew they believed him. They were ready to take on the madman by any means necessary. She could only imagine the loved one and the friends that they lost, and with the sudden realization, she remembered her own friend, out in Louisiana. She had no idea if they were alright.

Before Carol could make any move to call Monica, a little boy, no more than ten years old walked up to her and stared at her suit. His eyes were wide and his mouth dropped open in wonder, which brought a resemblance of a smile to her face. The little boy reminded her of her honorary niece, Monica's adorable daughter.

"Hi," Carol said timidly, waving a gloved hand. Cooper waved back, his jaw not moving from its open position.

"What's your superhero name?" Cooper asked when he finally saw words. Carol's eyes squinted and her head tilted to the side. She thought he understood what he was asking, but before she could answer he clarified a little more.

"Like my dad, he's Hawkeye," he said proudly, pointing over to the man with the sandy blonde hair and a quiver with two katanas strapped to his back. When she first saw him, she thought there was something that was missing. He had been walking around with another girl, who had introduced herself as Natasha, both of them armed to the teeth. There had to be something special about them, something that made them more than human because regular people would stand no chance against a man wanted to play god.

Carol nodded, pointing to the symbol on her suit. "I'm Captain Marvel."

Cooper crossed his hands over his chest, his smile turning to a slight frown. "But we already have a Captain. Captain America."

The name was a shock to her system. Carol had only ever heard the name, seen the propaganda, and constantly reminded of the sacrifice that he made.

" _Move out, ladies! If I don't see your sorry faces in the mess hall in 2 minutes, you don't get any food!" Carol grunted as sweat poured down her face and got in her eyes, blurring her sight. Stray pieces of hair fell into her face as she pushed up from the ground, and got to her feet. The mess hall was a little over half a mile away, and the sarge knew that they would never make it to the hall. Carol had never run what was dubbed the "food fight" by other cadets, and nobody had ever made it before. She intended to break that streak._

 _Even when the ground swayed beneath her feet, the three-hour workout finally taking effect, she sprinted as her life depended on it. In some sense, her life did depend on it. Around her, all other cadets gained distance, leaving her in the back of the group. She was not going to be last._

" _C'mon ladies! Move it! You're supposed to be the legacy of Captain America! What would he say when he saw your sorry excuse for soldiers?"_

 _Carol sucked in a breath and pushed her hair out of her face. "Higher, further, faster" she whispered to herself as she stretched her legs out as far as possible, pulling up to the head of the group._

"Captain America?" Carol repeated, slightly in disbelief. "He's, here?"

Cooper nodded, smiled spread across his little face as it lit up. "Yeah, Steve. He brought you in here, the guy in the blue, with the beard.

Carol picked Steve out of the crowd, staring in amazement. That was Captain America. His famous suit was a little different than what she last remembered seeing, a darker shade of blue and the famous white star in the middle of his chest ripped off. He had a full beard and the bright blue eyes she had seen in posters where dark and haunted, but she chalked that off as post-battle effects. And he was missing the most important part.

 _The shield was the first thing that caught her eye as he walked by a poster in her boot camp. The tall, handsome Captain America stared at her through the poster, bright red whites and blues making it one of the most patriotic posters she had ever seen. Carol stared right as his face, her stomach full from the food she got to eat and her eyes wide in determination, imagining herself fighting with him side by side. One day, she was going to be like him. People would look up to her, and she would make a difference._

" _Danvers! Get on the Jeep or you'll run the ten miles to the garage!" Carol took one last look at the poster of her idol before sprinted to the jeep with the rest of her buddies. Steve Rogers had given everything for his country, why couldn't she do the same?_

Little did she know, years later, she would meet the man that she thought was lost forever under the ice. Carol looked down at the little boy and ruffled his hair gently. "Thanks, kid." But Cooper shared a smile saying he wasn't completely done yet.

"Come on! Let's go say hi!"

"Oh no, I think he's busy I don't want to be…" but before Carol could give any other excuses, Cooper had grabbed her hand and pulled her forward, until they were weaving between the crowds, right for Steve. Steve turned around from his talk with one of the Wakandan guards right into Cooper and Carol.

"Captain America, meet Captain Marvel!" Cooper said excitedly, dropped Carol's hand, who was trying to compose herself.

Steve winced and shook his head. "I'm not really…" But he stopped his original sentence when he saw the pure joy on the little kids face. He wasn't about to shatter the kid's reality, not today. "So, another Captain. nice to meet you." He said with a warm smile.

Carol forced a smile onto her shook face as she grabbed Steve Roger's hand and shook it firmly. She was shaking hands with _the Captain America_. The living legend. Instantly she dropped into a salute, thinking back to her training.

"Major Carol Danvers, sir!" She said, holding tight to her salute. Steve saluted back but dropped it with a smile.

"At ease, soldier. But technically, I think I should be the one saluting to you. Your rank is above mine." He paused and snapped a quick salute, bringing the tiniest of blushes to Carol's cheeks. "Army?"

Carol shook her head. "Air Force. Flew an F-16 sortie for a few years." Steve nodded, impressed. Carol had too many things she wanted to say, some many questions that wanted to be answered, but before she could even open her mouth, an alarm sounded throughout the room.

Everyone sprinted to one of Tony's computers, anxiously looking at the screen. A dot blipped on the screen, advancing closer and closer to their spot.

"Is that a friend of yours?" Rhodey asked Carol, and she shook her head. Everyone held their breath as the dot got closer and closer. A boom echoed from the atmosphere, whatever it was just broke the sound barrier.

With a loud crash and the ground shook, the object dropped into the middle of the field, kicking up dust so it was impossible to see. The heroes gathered vantage points, peeking out windows, and around doors, Clint and somehow gotten up into the rafters of the ceiling, all looking for a sign of who the intruder was. They wanted to keep the element of surprise, get the advantage in case it was worse than they expected.

When the dust settled, a figure rose up from the ground, looking around the empty field. Thanos raised his head, looking at the empty palace, then down at the gauntlet. He was back.


	31. Chapter 31

**Okay, people, I know this chapter is really short, like _really_ short, but I wanted to post this before we got into the thick of it. Besides, I needed someplace where I can put a very big disclaimer. First...**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **mfaerie32: I know it was short, and I'm sorry this one is too, but I'm going to give you big ones after this. Besides, the story's coming to a close soon...**

 **Broken Silhouettes: Yeah, I really liked Captain Marvel, and I think I screamed when the trailers came out!**

 **SirPikachu: It is happening! I enjoyed writing the bonding part, it let me play with the backstory a lot.**

 **Frost Deejn: Yeah, writing Carol in there was one of the best parts for me. As for beating Thanos, well... we'll see ;)**

 **OK, now for the "fun" part. I don't ever remember if I put disclaimers in here, but you know the drill, I own pretty much nothing. Second of all, I promised myself that I would finish this story before I saw Endgame. I'm seeing Endgame the night of the 25th, so I have 17 days to finish all these chapters, so bear with me, I am going to try my best. Third of all... *takes a deep breath* I put a warning in the beginning that there will be character deaths, but that not only was for the "deaths" of the characters when they got dusted. There are going to be more deaths, this is a death!fic at some point. I wanted to give you guys a second warning, and trust me, as much as reading it hurts you, writing it hurts me even more. Just wanted to let you know, so when it comes, try not to yell at me too much...**

 **TL;DR: This story is not necessarily going to have a happy ending.**

 **Anyway, I'll be back with the next chapter soon! Bye!**

* * *

Thanos stared over the field, surprisingly empty. The last time he had been there, the aftermath of the battle was horrific. Bodies were strewn all out over the field; rocks, dirt, and trees thrown out of the ground, nothing was untouched. Thanos stepped forward, out of the hole he had created from his landing in the soft grass and dirt. Glancing down at his hands, the gauntlet that was strapped to his wrist was duller than before, and missing a vital piece.

The sixth and final infinity stone was missing from the middle of the glove. Thanos remembered the soul stone flying out of his reach when he was escaping from the soul world. He glanced around the area he was standing in, starting a quick search for the orange glowing stone. He stretched his out his long limbs, beaten from falling out of the sky.

From inside the palace, the living Avengers and heroes watched the Titan. Old and new comms were linked together for communication, and they held their positions before words started to slowly drift through the comms. When Thanos turned in the direction of the palace, no one uttered a word. There were barely breaths being taken until the Mad Titan deemed the palace empty and looked away, letting all the heroes exhale collectively.

" _You were right,"_ Carol said in a quiet breath, and she could practically hear Stark smile over the comms.

" _I usually am."_

" _Stow it, we need to keep up the element of surprise. If we lose it, we lose our chance at getting the advantage over him,"_ Cap whispered, inching his way around the column so he could get a better look at the layout of his team. The Queen had been taken to the lower sections of the palace, along with Clint's son and two of the Dora Milaje, keeping them safe and out of the upcoming battle. Himself, Tony, Thor, Carol, and Rhodey were all hidden behind the large columns in the palace gathering room. Bruce was in the back with Scott, hiding near the stairs in between floors. Rocket was pressed up underneath a table and Nebula was inside a doorway with Okoye not far behind. Clint had somehow gotten up into the rafters and Natasha had joined him, giving them the best lookout spots.

" _Feathers, what's happening out there?"_ Tony asked under his breath, giving their hawk a chance to get back into the fighting mode.

" _He's looking for something, I don't know what yet,"_ Clint whispered, using the reason he got the nickname Hawkeye to follow Thanos. " _Wait… the soul stone. It's not in the gauntlet. He's looking for the soul stone."_

Whispered buzzed around the palace at the information until Steve took charge again. " _Alright, here's what we're going to do. Splitting up into two groups. Hawk, Widow, Okoye, and Scott, you guys are the stealthiest here. And Scott… you're the smallest. I need to you go out and search for the stone. Don't grab Thanos' attention, stay under the radar."_

Looking up at the ceiling, he saw identical grins from their master assassins. " _Piece of cake,"_ Natasha said, and together they swiftly dropped from the ceilings, staying out of sight the entire time. They grouped up in the back, and Okoye led them out a secret side entrance, out into the field.

Steve watched the Titan carefully as he looked after his people. "Here's what we're going to do," Cap said, as soon as he saw the assassins' group reach the sparse tree line.

"We're the attackers. We need to stay out of sight for as long as possible as well, but the instance Thanos looks to close to finding the stone, we need to attack. Bring out the big guns, we need everything we can get fighting this guy." Steve's face was hard and his eyes glinted dangerously. "I am not losing any more people."


	32. Chapter 32

**Hey guys, I promised and here's the delivery! This one is definitely longer than the last, and we're getting into the action!**

 **REVIEWS:**

 **SirPikachu: It is! Get ready!**

 **Frost Deejn: Yeah, Thanos really needs to brush up on his studies before he goes attacking planets. As for the death fic, I can't really say anything because then I would just be giving away all my secrets, and I can't do that... you'll just have to wait and find out! ;)**

 **Alright, guys, the next chapter is already in the process, so I'll get that out to you as soon as possible. For now, here you go!**

* * *

They were no more than a leave rustling in the wind. This is what they were made for. The Hawk and the Widow were in their element, and nothing could beat them. This was a hunt, and they were stalking their prey.

Scott was holding on for dear life on the back of Clint's quiver, down to microscopic size. It was a little trippy when Scott would downsize, the shock of seeing everything infinitely times bigger was an experience, but it wore after a little while. His job was to keep an eye out. To his size, the stone would be a lot bigger than what the rest of the team saw, and being bright orange would make it stand out even more. But when Thanos fell out of the sky, there was no way of knowing where the stone might've dropped. It could've fallen anywhere within the reaches of the Wakandan palace, or even farther away.

Okoye was holding her own compared to the people who did this for a living. There was no beating the assassins at their own game, but she was pretty close. The training she had received with the Dora Milaje, and her own promotions to General made her better than most regular people. She understood how, but the two people in front of her, where anything but regular people. There was an unnatural sense about how they worked, they were so good at what they were doing that it would be impossible that they were once regular humans.

Thanos was oblivious to the threat that was inching ever so slowly towards him, from both sides of the field. The stealth group had made their route through the remaining, using whatever they could as cover when Thanos turned his gaze to close to where they were standing. From the front of the palace, the offensive was settling into their new positions at the base of the palace, poised to strike.

"Hold on, Scott," Clint said, his words barely heard over the blowing wind around them. Without any further warning, Scott caught a few quick signs shared between Clint and Natasha, then Clint was scaling up the tree they were in front of. They had reached the outskirts of the palace force field. Barely any trees were left, but Clint climbed up the biggest one, getting a higher vantage point for searching. Natasha and Okoye slid behind the massive trunk of the same tree, and wood giving them enough protection from Thanos spotting them. However, Clint was not in that category of being well hidden. Cracked and browning leaves were the only thing covering himself from the Mad Titan, who fortunately had his back turned to them.

"I see it!" Scott hissed suddenly, grabbing Clint's attention.

"Where? To the east?"

Scott's eyes widened but kept his focus locked on the position of the stone. "I don't know directions, but it's off to the right a little bit, between the two other trees."

Clint followed along with what Scott was describing until he found the same trees. They were about a football field away, and the soul stone was indeed in between them, resting on a pile of leaves. Just as Clint opened his mouth to open the comms and relay the information, Thanos turned towards to the same bent trees, spying the soul stone.

All sense of stealth was lost. Clint flipped out of the tree, with Scott hopping off the quiver and calling up an ant to help him fly, while Natasha and Okoye started running as well.

"We've got the stone, but Thanos saw it too!" Clint shouted as he pressed his finger against his ear, alerting the rest of the Avengers and crew. A split second later he slipped into his familiar self and pulled out an arrow, nocking it to his bow and letting it fly as he was running. He hadn't got a chance to personally thank the thing responsible for taking away his wife and two of his kids, and he was looking forward to putting an arrow through Thanos' eye socket.

Rejuvenated by seeing the missing stone, Thanos was ready for a fight. He heard the whistle of an arrow as it was released and turned to see four measly heroes running for the stone as well. He caught the arrow right before it impaled his eye, and held it out triumphantly. The women around the man who shot an arrow pulled out their respective weapons, a spear and electrified batons with guns. He couldn't help but grin. Such primeval weapons were not going to defeat him. He had wiped out half of the universe. He was a god.

Clint knew Thanos would catch the arrow, in fact, he was counting on it. Stupidly, Thanos carried said arrow until he reached the soul stone, reaching down and picking it up with his bare hand. Thanos spread his mouth out wide till the whites of his teeth were bared in a triumphant grin, and he waved the arrow tauntingly at Clint. Just what he was waiting for. With his own smile and a dangerous look in his eye, Clint watched the red blinking light on the arrowhead and pushed the side button on his bow.

The arrowhead detonated, the explosives inside blowing up right next to Thanos' face. He cried out and his hand immediately dropped both items to come up and try to protect his face from the heat. Thanos fell to his knees as his face burned and blindly groped for the dropped soul stone.

Right before the meaty purple hand grasped the stone, Scott jumped off the ant he was riding and grew full size, rolling when he hit the ground and kicked the stone away just out of Thanos' reach. Before Scott could grab the rolling stone, Captain Marvel swooped by, at height level and grabbed the soul stone, dropping a replica in its place.

Scott hesitated on grabbing the fake stone, confusion etched in his face when Carol's urgent instructions spurred him to action.

"Grab it," she hissed over comms and she flew away. "We need Thanos to think that is the real one, while we try to figure out what to do with the stone. Play keep away."

Thanos started to follow Captain Marvel as she flew away, not wanting to be tricked by silly little humans. He saw her fly behind the man in the funky suit, there was no way they didn't trade off. As soon as Scott saw Thanos' attention get pulled away, he whistled, loud and sharp.

"Hey, buttface!" He shouted, using the insult his daughter like to use. His beautiful, sweet daughter that was reduced to a pile of ash when he went to go check on her. Thanos reared his ugly head towards Scott, who popped off his mask with a hiss and waved his hand in the air. "Yeah, over here. Looking for this?" He shouted, waving the glowing orange stone right where Thanos could see it.

Thanos was conflicted. He wasn't sure who really had the stone, but when Carol turned around, hands out in front of her and a grim smile on her face, Thanos made up his mind. They had been trying to trick him. Thanos needed to make sure to watch out for the flying girl, to make sure she didn't pull any fast ones on him. With that decision he sprinted towards Ant-Man, who's mask dropped back over his face and he shrunk down out of sight. Thanos scanned the ground, looking for the orange that stood out from the light green grass before he felt two quick pricks at the back of his neck.

Before he could make a move his skin was suddenly electrified, and he couldn't help as the scream was ripped from his throat. Thanos dropped to his knees and face planted, and the electric current merciless against him. The smug archer with his Widow by his side, her own batons charged and aimed for another attack if Thanos tried anything else. The self-proclaimed 'god' was not as invincible as everyone thought he was. When the arrows ran out of juice and the electrocuting stopped, Thanos laid on the ground, panting. When he finally looked up, Hawkeye was squatting down in front of him with an arrow aimed right for his eye. Thanos grimaced as his fingers twitched when he rose his hands up in the air slightly. He had been electrocuted before, but it had no effect when it was attacking his arms, legs or torso. Thanos made a mental note to protect his neck better.

"Give me one reason not to," Clint growled, his arms unwavering as the arrow was pulled back even farther.

Thanos took a deep breath, regaining some of his strength. The woman that stood next to the archer saw this and jabbed him with the baton. This time the current had little effect as Natasha tried to stay as far from him as possible while still near, and the baton merely touched his shoulder.

"I can't," Thanos confessed and is hand-which was still twitching slightly-swung across and nearly hit the two assassins. Hawkeye let the arrow fly, cursing himself for not doing it right away and dodging the hand. Thanos turned his head and the arrow narrowly missed his eye and instead cut down his cheek, leaving a streak of blood.

Thanos wipe his cheek incredulously, staring at the red on his hand like it was a foreign substance. He couldn't bleed, and surely no mere mortal was the one to make him bleed. The only human to make him bleed was Iron Man when they battled on Titan. The humans in front of him seemed just as surprised as he was, but that only boosted their confidence.

"He _can_ bleed!" The archer shouted as his finger pressed up against his ear, alerting the rest of the team. The four humans around Thanos attacked mercilessly, hard and fast, always darting just out of reach of his hits. Thanos himself was still trying to figure out how he was bleeding. It had just been a regular arrow, nothing special about it, and the man certainly wasn't anything more than human. Thanos considered one possibility but pushed it aside for the sole reason he didn't want it to be true. When he took the little trip in space, he guessed that coming from inside the soul stone back to the real world made him vulnerable, made him weak.

He cursed at the thought and when another arrow was shot at him, this time implanting in his shoulder. With a growl, he located the dreaded archer, swinging around the two trees like he was a monkey. Thanos swatted away the two women below him who were aiming their weapons, knocking them out of range and he focused on the archer. He aimed the gauntlet with one eye closed-the blood was dripping down the side of his face and was getting in his sight-and shot a blast from the power stone at the man.

Thanos smiled when his target was hit dead on, knocking the man out of the tree and hitting the ground with a satisfying thud. What Thanos didn't expect was for the man to get right back up again, loaded with another arrow that Thanos had to quickly dodged. This man was only human, but he survived and blast and falling out the tree? Before he had much more time to think about the abilities of the man in front of him before the girl with dyed blonde was attacking him with batons. He heard a gunshot and it hit his other shoulder, forcing him back. He needed to pick up the place, he was _not_ going to lose.

Ignoring the others attacking him, he ran forward, after the little orange glow in the distance, chasing after it.

While Thanos ran after the fake stone in a game of keep away, Carol brought the stone over to some of the others, meeting up with Tony, the other Captain, and the doctor.

"I wouldn't touch it," Carol warned as he held the glowing stone out in her palm, humming slightly.

"How can you hold it then?" The doctor, Bruce, asked, wringing his hands nervously. Carol flashed him a smile.

"I'm not entirely human, Doc." She expected the doctor to look, or at least act surprised. People like here weren't exactly common on Earth, or at least she thought. But Bruce didn't look affected at all, he just shrugged and let the conversation carry on.

"So what do we do with it? How is this going to help?" Cap asked, glancing back at the fighting. The rest of the Avengers were holding back at his order, he didn't want to waste everyone's energy at one time.

Carol exhaled loudly and caught the attention she already had. "I have a theory," she said, and chewed her bottom lip, working out how she was going to say it.

"Yes?" Tony asked exasperated, and Carol shushed him.

"I think… you said everyone got, 'dusted', right? They kind of fell away?" Head nodded at her and it confirmed her theory, so she continued with a smile. "Then I've seen this before. There was this planet I was on a few years ago, and there was a guy trying to wipe out the planet, and he used this stone. The same thing happened, all the people turned to dust and he was super happy about it. But when I got there to fight him, he used the stone as leverage, saying that everyone he had dusted was inside the stone."

"Inside?"

"Yeah, it's called the Soul World I think, it's like a little dimension." The three men processed this information, questions flying back and forth in their heads.

"Ok, so how do we get them out? There's obviously not like a button we can push or anything." Tony asked, trying to lighten the mood with some humor, but even he wasn't into it. With that sentence, Carol's confidence dropped and her face grew more serious.

"I don't know."

Captain America squinted, thinking some more. "Ok, so then how did the people from your other planet get out?"

Carol sighed and ran her free hand through her wild hair. "I don't think they did."


	33. Chapter 33

**REVIEWS:**

 **Broken Silhouettes: Yep, it's not great but it's happening!**

 **Enjoy guys!**

* * *

Wanda knew something was going on. She was hearing voices in her head, and not just on the ones trapped with her. Everyone had tried their best to settle in a stay positive, but it was harder than it looked. Especially with Strange and his short temper and snappy attitude, announcing every three minutes that there was no hope for them. The future wasn't exactly as he saw, so they were immediately doomed. So the fallen heroes made themselves as comfortable as possible, laying out on the ground, sitting inside the cave, trying to forget about the fact that they would be stuck with the orange sand for God knows how long. Nobody even remembered the rest of the people affected by Thanos' snap before Peter brought it back up that they were all waiting for the heroes return below the surface.

But this was strange. Wanda could tell the difference between voices. Not only did they have specific tones and their voices were the same, but she could tell from groups of people. These voices were different, but they were familiar. She knew them, but she couldn't place it. Wanda needed to say something.

She really didn't want to walk up to Strange, he became annoyingly irritable at their impending doom, but if anything he would know what was happening.

"Stephen, I'm hearing voices," she stated bluntly, and Strange rolled his eyes.

"Yes, what else is new?" He shot back, anger rising back up. He just wanted to be left alone, why couldn't people just leave him in peace?

Wanda sighed and ignored the jab, continuing on. She wasn't certain of this next thing, but she was pretty sure. "No, I'm hearing voices of the people that are still alive. They're close by." When Strange still had no reply Wanda brought out the big guns.

"I'm hearing Tony's voice." Stephen immediately whipped around and stared at her face, almost as if he was trying to see if she was lying or not. Wanda nodded and shut her eyes to focus some more. "Tony is there. Steve too. There's another voice, a girl's voice. I don't know who she is. But they're close. Really close."

"What are they saying?" Strange asked, leaning forward intently. Wanda shushed him and focused harder, picking out their thoughts from the millions of others floating around in her head.

"They're… talking about us. They think we are inside the stone, and they don't know how to get us out!" Wanda shouted excitedly, grabbing everyone else's attention as well. Whispers were exchanged and they all gather around the two to listen in closer and figure out the plan.

"What are we going to do?" A voice asked, and Strange shook his head.

"Wanda," he started slowly as if forming the idea right as he was speaking. "You're hearing their thoughts, right? Do you think you can get a message out to them somehow? Something that says we're all here and we are okay?"

Wanda rubbed her temples and shrugged her shoulders. "I can try? I'm hearing very little from out there, I don't know how much it would take to get it out."

"Don't push yourself too hard," Bucky whispered, instantly by her side. She smiled softly but shook her head.

"If there's a chance, I have to try." Wanda spread her legs out to get a better balance and shut her eyes, hands raised towards the sky. Red energy floated around her arms and bounced off her skin as she tried to get her message.

* * *

On Wakanda, the three heroes conversed around the stone when they collectively gasped as a single thought penetrated her head. It was almost like a picture, and in that picture stood all of the missing heroes.

"Oh my- they're all in there!" Tony exclaimed, trying to focus on that thought for as long as possible. Far in the back, he saw the kid, and he nearly started crying. Peter was standing next to Shuri, in his suit and _standing there_. Quickly Tony turned it into a cough and rubbed his face, muttering something about allergies that everyone ignored. They felt the same way.

"How are we going to get them out then?" Cap asked, turning back to the fight. The first group was tiring out and needed a break. With a sharp whistle, he sent in the group he had been holding back to take their place. Thor, Rhodey, Rocket, and Nebula immediately turned to the fighting with fresh new energy, playing hot potato with the stone. Natasha helped Clint off the field with one of his arms slung over her shoulders, and with his hand around her waist, he was helping her just the same. Scott released his helmet and promptly collapsed, staring at the sky while taking deep breaths, and Okoye joined him flat on her back.

Thanos was finally taking hits and staying down. He stayed more on the defensive, blocking hits more than delivering them. It saved up his energy, and it gave him more time to focus. The heroes were split into three groups. The first had gone through the first round with him, and he was now dealing with the second. But the third, he wasn't sure what they were doing. They were mostly out of his sight, and just out of the corner of his eye he caught them around the columns of the palace. They have gathered around, not in the fight. It intrigued him. The last time they had focused all of their energy on him, but this time they only used a third of their manpower while fighting him? Didn't make sense.

A flash of red momentarily blinded the heroes, but when it cleared, Thanos seemed just as dazed as they were. In the confusion, Thanos leaped forward towards Nebula, who kept the stone in her hand just out of reach. Thanos hesitated, meeting the eyes of his adopted daughter, who stared back fiercely. Rocket stepped closer to Nebula, trying to help out, but she waved him and the rest of the heroes back. He was all hers.

"Why her?" Nebula started, choking back emotions that had never bothered her before. Thanos dropped his outstretched hand and cocked his head to the side. Thanos was watching her move, every twitch of her fingers, the tight grip around the stone, the equal distance her legs stood apart from each other to keep balance. She was waiting to strike, and he had no doubt she would strike to kill.

"She was my daughter. You were my-" Before Thanos could even finish speaking Nebula screamed and jumped forward, tossing the stone behind her before latching to Thanos' neck. Rocket caught the stone in one of his pockets, careful not to touch the stone itself. Nebula stabbed a pressure point on the back of Thanos' neck, forcing him to his knees. When he was on the ground, she grabbed his left arm and forced it up his back.

"Rocket, watch him!" She barked the order, and Rocket waited no time. He cocked his gun and pressed it against the Titan's forehead, right between his eyes.

"That's for Groot," Rocket hissed as Thanos practically went cross-eyed watching the gun.

"She is not your daughter. You will _never_ call her daughter." Nebula growled and pulled at the infinity gauntlet. With surprising ease she slipped off the glove, surprising Thanos. With one tug she fit the oversized glove on her hand, the inside slowly adjusting to her smaller hand while the outside stayed nearly the same.

"Never again."

Nebula closed her fist and a blast of purple energy shot from the gauntlet and through the back of Thanos' head. He never even saw it coming. Thanos tipped forward, his mouth open in a silent scream and Rocket scurried out of the way right before the Titan hit the dust. Nebula stood over the body of the Titan, wishing she could have a smile on her face. Before she could even turn to Rocket or the rest of her teammates, the gauntlet felt lighter than it had before.

When she stared down at the metal, it glowed red and started to slowly disintegrate from her hand. One look at Thanos and his body were doing the same, red light shining through. Nebula had a sudden panic and she was back on Titan and everyone was disappearing. With one heart-wrenching moment, she looked over and gave a sigh of relief when everyone was still there. Thanos, however, wasn't.

"Where did he go?" Thor asked, stepping forward and poking at the ground with his new hammer where Thanos had just laid like he didn't believe he was gone.

With the same surprise and intensity as a lightning bolt, Nebula cursed loudly and sprinted off back towards the palace, nearby where the rest of the heroes were meeting. She could hear the confused cries of her friends as they started running behind her, but she didn't have time to answer. The single swear turned into a whole string of them when she saw the motionless bodies of the first group of fighters laying flat on the grass. Nebula dropped to the nearest one, the woman who had introduced at Natasha, and pressed two fingers to the side of her neck. Thanking the skies and everyone above when she found a pulse. Thanos hadn't killed them. Not yet.

Nebula cringed when she found the rest of them, four more bodies were strewn across the grass motionless, but breathing. She turned in a full circle, looking for any sign of the Titan.

"Nebula." With her name, Nebula dropped into a fighting position where she heard the voice and watched the empty space intently. Suddenly, the empty space became not so empty. With the same flash of red from the reality stone, the air suddenly took the shape of the Titan and filled in the missing color. He had made himself invisible.

Thanos stepped over the bodies of the heroes he had easily knocked down towards his daughter.

"Looking for this?" Between two pinched fingers, the real soul stone glowed brightly, illuminating the malicious smile from the Titan.


	34. Chapter 34

**I'm not going to talk much these next chapters, because I just want you guys to enjoy the story. But we're getting close to the end!**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **Frost Deejn: I know, that was pretty mean. Oops...**

 **hermionegrangerfan2017: Thanks! Hope you didn't have to wait too long, here's the update!**

 **Enjoy guys!**

* * *

With that first flash of red, Thanos' plan was put in motion. He had made a replica of himself, a carbon copy made to keep the fighters occupied. Once he slipped away he used the reality stone again and made himself completely invisible. None could see him, so he walked blatantly across the field, a cocky smile on his face. At a different angle, he got a better glimpse of the secret meeting that he wasn't invited to. In the center of the heroes was the familiar orange glow of the soul stone.

Thanos kept down the growl that tried to force its way up. They _did_ trick him, the stupid flying hero. He shouldn't have fallen for that, but he shook his head and let his shoulders drop. He may have slipped up once, but he was going to get them back.

When he was thinking about going after the real soul stone, his original idea was to leave the exhausted first group of fighters. Once he had the soul stone again, it wasn't necessarily going to be a fair fight, and he liked a challenge. But when he figured out he had been tricked himself, no one was safe. Softening his steps so they couldn't be heard over the battle for the fake soul stone with the fake Thanos, he approached the resting heroes.

They were completely unaware, for the most part. Without warning, Natasha's head shot up from where she was helping out Clint and she looked out at the field. Thanos froze as her eyes wandered around and stopped breathing when her eyes seemed to lock on him. Without breaking the eye contact, Natasha one-handly signed something to Clint and they both stood up, staring at Thanos when he was supposed to be invisible.

Thanos couldn't wait any longer. His cover there was already blown, and he needed to make this quick. Just when Natasha looked like she was going to strike out, Thanos brought up his hand, clenching the first. With a swipe a blast from the power stone went out in a wave, knocking out all four heroes and throwing them backward. Staying invisible, Thanos checked the other groups, making sure they didn't see any of that. If they looked again, they would've dismissed the motionless bodies as the heroes laying back to get a break. No one would give it a second look.

The second part was next. Thanos made himself invisible once again, blending in perfectly with the empty field around him and made his way towards the last group of congregating heroes. Tony Stark was among them, and Thanos smiled devilishly at the thought that he would get the chance to finish off Tony Stark once and for all. There would be no stopping him then.

He caught whispers of their conversation as he snuck up behind the heroes, eyes locked solely on the glowing soul stone held by none other than Captain Marvel herself. This one would have to be quick, he didn't want to give them a chance to find he was there. He was swift and silent, the same energy from the power stone throwing them backward and flinging the soul stone out of their hand. When he was sure they were out, Thanos leaned over and scooped the stone off of the ground, weighing it in his palm. It pulsed, and Thanos couldn't stop the smile from spreading on his face. Glancing over that the carbon copy of himself that was fighting, he saw Nebula standing in front of it with the fake infinity gauntlet. Just as she shot the blast from the fake gauntlet, Thanos snapped with the real one, making both objects disintegrate. Then he waited.

"Looking for this?" He taunted, as soon as his daughter-his only remaining daughter-stood in front of him with a look of complete and utter rage. His smile showed his teeth and he saw her glance down at her own hand, looking for the infinity gauntlet, which currently was wrapped around his own hand.

"What will you do for it?" Thanos asked, stepping to his right while Nebula followed him, the two circling around each other like professional fighters in a ring. Nebula's hands flexed at her sides, opening and closing her fists as he eyes never left from the Titan's relaxed gaze. Behind her, the rest of her team was helping out the unconscious heroes. Rhodey and Thor had dragged Tony, Cap, and Carol out from Thanos' reach and he saw, but let slide. They could have them, he had what he wanted.

"Nothing you want," Nebula shot back, her brain processing how many different ways she could kill the Titan with her bare hands. Currently, she was at fifty-seven. Thanos raised an eyebrow at her remark.

"Oh really?"

"Well," Nebula started, the barest of smiles gracing her own face. "If you're lucky, maybe I'll let you live."

"Wow, I didn't peg you for the mercy-type."

"I didn't think you could be sarcastic."

Thanos chuckled, shrugging lightly. He'd never really used jokes or sarcasm before. There wasn't a use for them, not really. Until now, he never felt that sarcasm had been appropriate. Thanos opened his mouth to say something else, but the words fell from his mouth when he felt the stone shift in his hands. He held it up closer to his face, watching a web of spidery cracks open up on the surface of the stone. Everyone seemed frozen as the stone kept cracking, watching in sick fascination.

"Don't let it break!" Tony shouted as he grabbed Rhodey's hand to stand up, legs shakily holding him up. There was so much about the stone that they didn't know, but when it came to one subject, they all had the same general idea. If the soul stone broke, there was no way they could get everyone back.

At Iron Man's words, the fight started, and nothing was held back. There was no teams, no switching for breaks, nothing. Everyone was focused on one thing only: killing the Titan.

Thanos wasn't prepared for the ambush of heroes from all sides, but he had the bargaining chip. He closed his bare fist around the stone and held it up in the air, out of reach from the heroes standing on the ground while the gauntlet was held out in front of him.

"Anyone moves and I'm crushing the stone," Thanos threatened, all traces of fun and games out of his voice. There was no time for playing around now. The heroes paused mid-step, but from the corner of his eye, he saw a yellow blur head straight for him. He tightened his grip, intent on going through with his threat, but a blast from the blur hit him right in the wrist and made his grip loosen. This was the signal for the rest of the heroes, and they launched at Thanos.

It was all a blur to Thanos, he blindly threw his free arm out and shot randomly with the gauntlet, hoping he hit somebody. The heroes were working like clockwork, a hit there, a kick there, all perfectly timed and in sync with each other. Fighting a common enemy and for their family. Thanos knew this was a losing fight, but there was no way he was going to give up completely. They could kill him, he wouldn't care. But if they killed him, he would make sure the other half of humanity would never see the light of day again.

Before he could a better grip on the stone to finally get rid of it once and for all, a hit on a pressure point on his arm made him lose all feeling in his hand. With a cry of frustration, he dropped the stone and it got scooped up by Captain Marvel. She flew out of reach and Thanos tried to grab at her, only to have the hands of the heroes on his body, holding him back. His vision was full of red as he screamed, trying to shake everyone off and follow the stone as it zoomed across the sky with Carol.

Carol flew with the stone carefully held in her hands, the delicate gem still cracking in her hands. "Stark, it's not stopping!" She shouted over comms as she dodged a blast from the gauntlet. Nearly the entire surface of the stone was cracked, and it was only a matter of minutes before it broke entirely. The worst part, they didn't even know why it was cracking. Thanos wasn't crushing it, and it didn't hit anything. It was an infinity stone, it was supposed to be the most powerful thing in the world.

With a growl, Thanos stuck the gauntlet in the air and shot out a series of blasts after Carol, each one she barely missing her. Two hits on the back of his legs brought him to his knees and blasts to the back knocked Thanos clear on his stomach. His left arm was thrown out in front of him, and he felt hands on his wrist, trying to pull off the gauntlet. He tried to get back up but something leaped on his back, pushing him into the ground and forcing his down. When it growled, he knew exactly what it was.

The Hulk was back in action, and with a roar, Thanos knew he was in for more trouble than he bargained for. After being knocked out, Bruce woke back up with a particular voice in his head, a very familiar one that had been missing the other times they were fighting. Bruce started to question it, but when the rage started to take over, he didn't argue. Once the Hulk wanted to come out, it took a very big effort to keep him back. With Thanos, Bruce let the Hulk take over him like a welcome friend.

While Hulk had Thanos pinned to the ground, not giving him another inch of space to move, the heroes split to focus on two objectives: keep Thanos pinned and get the infinity gauntlet off. Captain Marvel stayed up in the air, keeping her eye on the continually cracking soul stone while sending photon blasts towards Thanos when he acted up too much. Cap and Thor each took a leg, using their enhanced and god-like strength to pin the limbs to the dirt; Tony and Rhodey took one of the arms, and Scott increased his size so he was almost as big as the Hulk and took the other arm. Hulk stood on Thanos' back and pushed the Titan's head into the ground, squishing his features.

While Thanos couldn't move, everyone else grabbed a finger of the gauntlet, pulling as hard as they could. Rocket jumped up onto Thanos' arm and pushed from the opposite direction. Slowly, the gauntlet became looser and looser, until it was almost completely off.

"No!" Thanos screamed as the one final push knocked the glove off his hand, and he felt like a piece of his own body had just been ripped off. The gauntlet fell to the ground and the heroes picked it up and moved it as far away as possible.

Okoye held the gauntlet in her hands, and without warning, Nebula ran by and snatched it out of her grip, a deadly look on her face.

"Nebula, no! There's no way you can handle that type of power. None of us can!" Tony shouted as he pushed harder to get Thanos' flailing limbs under control. Carol almost raised her hand and brought up the fact that she could use the gauntlet, but in the tense situation, she kept it down. Besides, Nebula looked like if anyone else touched the glove she would kill them.

"I'd rather die trying," Nebula snarled as she shoved her hand inside, and gasped as it actually molded around her arm. It shrunk down to a much better size, and it was a lot lighter than it was one Thanos. She stalked right up to Thanos and nodded at the Hulk, who let Thanos' head up just enough so they could look eye to eye.

"Oh yeah, about what I said earlier?" Nebula said once Thanos had his attention on her. As soon as they made eye contact, Nebula brought up the gauntlet to his face and shot a blast of energy right between his eyes. "I lied."

Thanos' blasted head fell to the ground, blood pouring out on the grass below them and his limbs finally falling still. Nebula braced herself for this to be another joke, another thing where this was not the real Thanos and he was going to pop out of the woods and everyone was going to die. But after minutes of staring and silence from everyone, nothing happened.

"Is that it?" Someone asked, and there were whispers from all around. Did they do it? Did they finally kill Thanos?

Before someone could do anything else, Carol's alarmed cry brought everyone's attention to her as she touched down on the ground

"It's breaking!" She cried, holding the stone gently in her hands, showing it to Tony who had run up to her.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing! It's been doing this the entire time, I couldn't stop it!"

"Put it down!" Cap shouted, ending the argument. Maybe the regular ground would keep it from breaking since it wouldn't be moving. Everyone held their breath as Carol slowly paced the stone on the ground with the utmost care, waiting for it to crack as soon as it touched dirt. Everything was silent as it sat on the ground, and nobody breathed when the cracking stopped. Then, without warning, the stone sent a bright light out from the center and the soul stone shattered, along with all of the hopes that the heroes would get their loved ones back.


	35. Chapter 35

**Alright, this is officially the longest chapter I have ever written, period, and I hope you guys enjoy it!**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **mfaerie32: Yeah, she definitely deserved it.**

 **Frost Deejn: I actually haven't seen the HISHE for Infinity War, but I just thought Nebula was really deserving of killing Thanos.**

 **hermionegrangerfan2017: Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it!**

 **JohnGilbertVampirehunter: Nope that was just Mantis' POV, I don't blame Quill at all. I think it's kind of dumb that people are blaming him.**

 **SirPikachu: Thanks, the action scenes are the most fun to write! Maybe? I'll guess you have to see!**

 **Alright, guys, I hope you enjoy this extra long chapter that took me literally forever to write. This story is almost at the end! See you later!**

* * *

The remnants of the soul stone laid on the swaying yellow grass, surrounded by the gaping mouths of the Avengers. Various curses were shouted at the sky or at the dead Titan behind them, all trying to find something to blame.

Thor was having an especially hard time, pacing back and forth at the back of the group while his mind wandered. He couldn't stop thinking of how Thanos took Loki away from him without another thought. Thor had been with the other's as they tried to figure out what had happened, and the best guess was that the people who had been snapped were trapped inside the stone. It was all fine and dandy when four of the Avengers saw a memory of the group in the soul stone, yelling that everyone was in there. Pulling aside Steve, Thor had quietly asked him if he had seen Loki with the group, desperately hoping that he wasn't going to be disappointed. Thor's heart fluttered with hope when Steve said that he had seen Loki, sulking in the back and he nearly started to cry.

Thor felt like crying again, but for a different reason. Any chance of seeing his brother again was shattered into a million pieces with the stone itself. With a renewed sense of energy, Thor ran over to Thanos' dead body, his Stormbreaker trailing behind him. A mantra of Thanos' final words played in his head over and over and over again.

 _You should've gone for the head. You should've gone for the head. You should've..._

Thor tried to block out the own voices in his head with an Asgardian war cry-one symbolizing regret and loss-and swung his hammer at Thanos, hitting it right in the center of his back. A long break opened up in the skin of Thanos' back, and what little blood that was left over gently poured out of the wound, stopping as there was nothing left to pump it, but he didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore.

Over and over again he brought his hammer down on Thanos' body, the rough stone breaking up the skin. Thor heard his name being called, but he didn't stop. He wouldn't stop, he couldn't stop. With a final sob, he forced all his feelings, all the rage, and the sadness, and brought his new hammer up for a final swung. With the full rage of the Asgardian God of Thunder, Thor brought his hammer down at the base of Thanos' neck, slicing the Titan's head clean from his body.

Looking at the currently separated head, Thor didn't feel any better. As forbidden tears traveled down his cheeks, gently hands grabbed at his arms-which were still above his head with the hammer, poised for another strike. They pulled the hammer down and set it on the ground next to him, and those same hands grabbed his shoulders and forced him to tear his gaze from the dead body.

"Thor, buddy, you need to stop. It's over. He's dead." Those hands were tight on his shoulders, grounding him, and Thor forced himself to look up from his shoes to the concerned blues of Steve Rogers. Thor didn't even attempt to smile or say anything back. He knew they were true, for himself and everyone there. Thanos was dead, but nothing was ever going to be the same again.

Thor let Steve loop his arm lazily around the God of Thunder's shoulder and walk him back to where everyone else stood. Simple whispers were shared across the crowd, but no one was really in the mood for real conversation. Carol hovered over the broken pieces of the soul stone, trying to figure out what went wrong. It had been barely five minutes since the stone broke, and Carol didn't want to believe that they were finished. They couldn't be.

Gently, she let some of the powers slip off her fingertips, letting it float around the pieces and pushing them gently together. She stopped and pursed her lips when nothing happened, they just fell back to the grass. She turned her head and opened her mouth to ask Tony a quiet when a slight humming noise caught her attention. Looking back down at the pieces of infinity stone, her mouth dropped open when they were the ones making the noise.

"Uh, guys?" She called over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off the stone pieces. One by one, all the pieces started to vibrate and glow, not orange, but a dull white.

"What's happening?" Rhodey asked, involuntarily taking a step back as the white light pulsed like a heartbeat, growing brighter and brighter with the buzzing noise filling the ears of the heroes.

A loud crack and a blinding flash shook the ground and threw everyone backward. Thud after thud was barely heard as bodies hit the ground, heroes slowly rubbing at their eyes and covering their ears. Cap moaned as he got up to his knees, pressing the heel of his hand to his forehead. He shook the fuzzy cobwebs out of his head and blinked rapidly to clear his blurred vision. When he got a clear few of the ground in front of him, Steve was staring directly at a familiar pair of boots. Even dirt covered and stained, he knew them like the back of his own hand. Steve continued his way up, and those boots turned into a familiar pair of pants, which turned into a familiar blue and black shirt with only one sleeve to leave space for a familiar metal arm.

"Buck?" Steve couldn't believe as the name left his mouth. Bucky almost couldn't believe it himself. Steve stared around his best friend and he saw more people. He recognized those people, but his brain couldn't make the connection. They were the missing people, _the ones that disappeared after the snap_.

Steve rushed to his feet, which he realized was a bad idea when a wave of dizziness almost brought him back to his knees. But Bucky was there in front of him and caught his arms, keeping him back up in a standing position. Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Now Bucky was real and actually there, or he was stuck in a very realistic hallucination.

" _What the_ -" Steve said, staring up into Bucky's face. It seemed so real, but he couldn't believe it. Before he could say anything else Bucky pulled him into the tightest hug Steve had ever been in. Steve didn't even realize he was crying himself until felt tears coming from Bucky. Right then in clicked, and Steve couldn't hold back. His eyes squeezed shut and he shuddered back a sob, gloved hands grabbing at the fabric at Bucky's back, trying to convince himself that he was there. Bucky was _there_ , standing in front of him.

When Steve finally started to breath normal again, he opened his eye and saw people slowly filter through a thin white haze that came out from the broken soul stone pieces. In the center of the chaos, Wanda stood with her arms raised up in the air and eyes tight in concentration. Red energy danced up her arms and around her finger tips, before shooting up into the air in thin strings. Once a person or group of people came out from the stone, they were sucked up by her powers and transported, and Steve could only guess that she was putting them back to where they first disappeared from. He could barely believe his own eyes.

All the people from the snap…

They were coming out of the broken pieces stone.

The killed half of humanity was alive and coming back.

"Bucky?" Steve asked for the third time, still trying to comprehend. Bucky had disappeared before his very eyes-no, not disappeared. _Died_. They all died. But he was there and everyone else was too.

"Steve." As soon as Bucky said his name, Steve's shoulders tensed and he tasted vomit. He shut his eye to block out the horrible memories that came back. It seemed every time Bucky said his name, something happened. Falling off the train, turning to dust in Wakanda. It was like something else was just waiting to happen. Steve pulled Bucky closer, making sure that this time if something happened, he was going with. After a beat of silence, and nothing came flying out of the sky or out of the ground and they were safe, Steve finally pulled back and got a good look at Bucky. He was a little worse for wear, but nothing was immediately out of place.

"What happened?" Steve asked, holding Bucky at arm's length. Bucky only returned with a small smile and a shake of his head. His eyes were lit with the smile, but something right behind them was more haunted than Steve cared to admit.

"That's a story for later, Stevie. Right now, I just want to go home." Bucky said with a sigh, his shoulders dropping. The exhausted look on his face spoke volumes and Steve couldn't hold back the smile that crossed his face. For the first time, Steve had a look in his eyes that wasn't sad, or regretful. There was a light in his eyes that hadn't shown before. He was _genuinely happy_.

"Everyone else?" Steve asked and Bucky's smile grew even bigger.

"Coming. Just watch." Bucky threw his arm around Steve's shoulder, standing barely taller than the younger punk and ruffled his blonde hair. Steve was slightly confused, but couldn't stop the infectious smile that Bucky gave him and they stood side by side for the front row seat show.

Out next came the siblings, T'Challa with his hand gripped tightly around Shuri's. Okoye nearly cried out in relief. "Your Highnesses!" Okoye broke into a sprint from her spot on the grass to the missing half of the Royal family. Breaking every rule and protocol that had been drilled into her head when she started serving the Wakandan Royal family, Okoye grabbed hold of T'Challa and Shuri and pulled them into a tight hug.

In the middle of the hug, Okoye remembered her place, and the warnings her mother had given her if she broke a rule in front of the King of Wakanda and dropped to one knee. She kept her tear-streaked face to the ground as she bowed in front of the siblings. T'Challa and Shuri shared a look that made them chuckle and together they dropped down to their knees as well.

"Okoye," T'Challa said affectionately, grabbing her hands and holding them in hers. She looked up in shock, tears welling up before they fell down her cheeks and hugged again. They stayed kneeling on the ground, taking in the fact that they were all there.

The sudden realization brought T'Challa out of the hug and a serious face. "Wait, my mother? Nakia?"

Okoye broke into a smile. "The Queen is safe, she is in the palace. And Nakia is still out on her mission, but she is safe as well" All three broke down in joyful tears, holding each other close.

Stephen Strange came out next, the broken and grey body of Vision held in his arms. Before they had gotten out of the stone, he had promised Wanda he would take care of Vision, and do everything they could to bring him back. As he passed Wanda he nodded and said thanks, and she returned the nod, all without a word said. Spotting the resident doctor of the Avengers, Strange walked Vision over to near the palace steps. Thor was talking down a slightly green Bruce, and Strange gently laid Vision down at their feet. They talked quietly, explaining the situation. Bruce nodded stiffly and rubbed at his eyes. A patient would help Bruce out from his transition and keep his mind off everything.

When Strange knew Vision was in good hands, he started to turn around before was body slammed Tony. The latter was out of his Iron Man suit, which made his injuries that much more apparent, but the man moved like he was the healthiest person in the world. Before Strange could react, Tony pulled into a tight hug. Strange's hands were out by his sides, personally not a huge fan of contact, but eventually, he let it slide and wrapped his arms around Tony. When Tony mumbled something into Strange's shoulder, Stephen pulled back and looked at Tony in confusion.

"Stark, I can't hear what you're saying."

"I said you're an idiot."

Strange the ghost of a smile tug at the corners of his mouth, but it didn't come out. Strange watched as every couple of seconds Tony would look back towards the haze, watching for the next person to come through. Strange definitely didn't miss the deflated look when the person that came through wasn't the one Tony was looking for. _The kid_ , Strange realized, and he felt so much worse for tony.

"Why?"

"Why you're an idiot? Don't even get me started, I could go a whole _day_ about that," Tony asked incredulously and took his eyes off the people coming out of the stone long enough to look at Strange with a grim look on his face.

"I believe you were the one who said that you would not hesitate to see me die if came down to me, the kid or the stone. Then as soon as that oversized grape showed up, you folded and just handed over the time stone! That's why you're an idiot!" Strange opened his mouth to say something in his defense but shut it twice as quickly. It would take longer to explain everything. So Strange just shrugged and Tony punched Strange in the shoulder, a little harder than he normally would.

Clint and Natasha shoulder to shoulder, the partner anxiously waiting for people they knew. Clint couldn't keep his hands from shaking or tapping out on his thigh. He was a fidgety person, but depending on the situation, it was worse. This was worse. He couldn't stop himself from moving. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his and their fingers entwined, and he stared down at the hand. Natasha gave his shaking hand a quick squeeze, letting him know without words that she was there. He wasn't going to lose her. Clint was grateful for her grounding presence, with each person that came out of the stone his breath hitched. He needed his wife, he needed to see his other kids.

When Natasha gasped, Clint felt his hopes rising of seeing his family again but was mildly disappointed when it wasn't. Director Fury and Hill walked together out of the stone, staring at each other like they were surprised that they were alive. Natasha nodded at Clint and pulled him forward, hands still linked.

"Nick," Natasha said with a relieved sigh and pulled the director into a hug. Clint did the same for Hill and they switched, Clint, giving Fury a quick handshake and sharing knowing glances.

"Barton. Romanoff." Introductions were short and the conversations were minimal. While Natasha dropped his hand to talk with Hill and Fury walked off to the other side to hug Carol, Clint found himself fidgeting again. Before he could even ask Natasha to help, she seemed to know and thanked Hill, grabbed both of his hands and making him look at her.

"Daddy!" He knew the little girl's voice and Clint ripped away from Natasha to run towards the voice. Something in the back of his head said that it was a joke, that his mind was just playing tricks on him. But through the sparse crowd, Clint said two little brown pigtails held up by bows and those voices were silent. Losing it, he dropped to his knees as the little girl sprinted into him, jumping up and wrapping her little arms around his neck.

"Lila?" Clint asked, voice just above a whisper. He felt his daughter shaking in his arms as he pulled her close to him, her head buried in his neck.

"Clint!" An older woman's voice came next, and Clint didn't even get time to look up before he was tackled by his wife holding a bundle of blankets in one arm. Clint fell flat on his back from his family, and he was sobbing. Clint covered all of them in kisses, before cupping Laura's cheek with one hand and kissing her gently on the lips. When he finished he lifted his head up off the ground enough to get a glimpse of his baby son, who was asleep in the blankets that were wrapped around him. Natasha watched the remaining Barton family reunite, knowing that Cooper was still inside with the Queen, but would be out very soon. Watching them, her hand unconsciously found its place on her own stomach, before a little voice calling for 'Auntie Nat' brought her into the Barton family hug.

Scott's hands wrung nervously together along with the other people waiting for their loved ones. He never actually saw Janet, Hank, and Hope disappear, but he had seen the piles of dust and could only assume from the other stories that the same happened to them. Scott rubbed his fingers on his eyes and when he opened them again, Hope was standing in front of him. She was still in the same clothes and Scott's mouth dropped, trying to explain. Without words, they embraced and just like every other family, Scott couldn't believe she was standing there. It just wasn't possible.

Right behind them, Hank and Janet appeared with the same surprise as everyone else and watched Scott.

"How did you get out?" Hank asked after Scott let go of Hope and pulled him into a quick hug.

"Just pulled the lever. But I had a little help," Scott replied with a nod over to Clint with his family.

"I'm just glad you're okay," Janet said softly, kissing Scott on the cheek and patting it with her hand.

With a heavy sigh, Tony paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair. He talked to himself until the words were near gibberish and someone looked at him strangely so he stopped. He had to assure himself that everyone was alright. Pepper was ok, Pepper was ok. She was inside, waiting with the Queen and one of Clint's kids, hiding until their signal came through to come out. She was ok. Happy was ok, and May was alrighty. Almost everyone was ok. Around him, families and friends got their happy reunions, while Tony was still waiting for his.

With each pulse of the soul stone, another person came out, and every time it pulsed Tony watched for the kid. Someone called his name and he looked back towards the palace steps, where Bruce was waving him over. He felt torn. Vision was dead or dying, but Tony needed to wait for Peter. But logic won over. There were over three billion people in the soul stone, and Tony didn't have any idea when Peter would be coming out. Vision was in trouble, so with one final look at the haze Tony walked as a kid with brown hair stepped out onto the grass. Tony almost turned away but took a double take when the red and gold colors caught his eye.

"Peter," Tony whispered, motioning for Bruce to wait for a second and running forward. He pushed through the crowd, mumbling apologizing and freezing when he made eye contact with Peter.

"Mr. Stark?" They way Peter said his name was identical to the one back on Titan and Tony slipped into a flashback, with the kid was slipping through his fingers. Tony shut his eyes and Peter ran forward, grabbing onto Tony and holding on. Without opening his eyes Tony hugged back, silent tears running down his cheeks.

"Peter?" Stark asked, not believing his own voice. He was afraid of losing the kid all over again. He was stuck in the nightmare of Peter slipping through his hands and being gone forever.

"Mr. Stark, I-"

"Just shut up, Pete. Just…" Tony choked on his words, but couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. Peter followed and just clung to Tony, taking deep breaths. He was safe, he was safe. He was out of the stone, and Tony was there.

After what felt like forever, the remaining stragglers came through the haze of the soul stone and were sent back to their homes by Wanda. Rocket waited anxiously as he tapped his gun against the ground waiting for his team. When he saw Quill, Rocket would deny everything, but he couldn't help the tears falling. Out came his team, first Quill then Drax and Mantis, with Groot right behind them.

"I am Groot!" Groot cried and ran over to Rocket, who dropped his gun and held the tree, even though Groot was bigger than him. Then Rocket would admit he cried. Just a little bit.

"It's ok, Groot, I'm here buddy."

Everyone had a happy ending, reunited with their families. Everything was back to normal except…

"Wait, where's Gamora?" Quill asked frantically, spinning around in search of the girl. Suddenly Thor was right by his side, searching for his brother. Not everyone was back.


	36. Chapter 36

**REVIEWS:**

 **mfaerie32: Yes I can do it, but just you wait...**

 **Verinorina: Yep!**

 **hermionegrangerfan2017: No, Dr. Strange was dusted with the snap. Gamora and Loki were like physically killed by Thanos (broken neck and snapped from the neck.)**

 **Frost Deejn: Thanks! Questions should be answered in this chapter.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy! We're entering the final countdown! I'm hoping to finish this weekend.**

* * *

Sweat rolled down Wanda's face as she struggled to take in a breath. Her arms shook with exhaustion and they were near breaking point. She had almost finished bringing all the people from Earth out of the stone and back to where they were originally dusted. That wasn't the problem. Then she had to sort out regular civilians and heroes and make sure the heroes stayed in Wakanda so everyone was together. One of her last tasks was to get the people from different planets out. That was more of a struggle. The broken stone did most of the work, it's a natural urge to put the people back where they were originally from. Occasionally, there were a few bumps and Wanda had to give them a little nudge, draining just that much energy from her. She wouldn't be able to last too much longer.

With a shudder, the last of the people were out of the stone, with the exception of three. Heimdall, Loki, and Gamora were still inside the stone, looking expectantly up at the orange sky. They had watched as everyone around them disappeared again, slowly blinking out of the stone. Gamora's breath hitched when Quill disappeared from her arms, and she was dreading the thought of possibly never seeing him again. They had just gotten back together, she didn't want it to go away again. One by one the rest of the dusted heroes went back to Earth, leaving the three of them to wait in the stone for their turn.

Gamora turned to Loki with a questioning look on her face. "Are we going to get out?"

Loki didn't answer. He couldn't answer. He didn't want to think about the fact that everyone else got out, while he was still stuck in here with Thor waiting on the other side. Loki tried to ignore the picture of absolute hope in Thor's face that his mind pictured, and the crushing defeat when Loki couldn't come out.

Heimdal took this silence and answered for the other Asgardian. He got a far-off look in his unnatural gold eyes and Gamora stared at him intently. "They are out there, waiting. They do not know if they can get us out. They are going to try."

Gamora was slightly baffled at the statement by Heimdall who quickly explained the special powers he had. However, it seemed he was just as surprised as she was when he found out that his powers worked from inside the stone. Gamora chuckled drily at the fact that he might've been useful early one in the beginning, but no one knew he was there.

Suddenly, Gamora started to feel very strange, almost as if her insides were eating at her from the inside out. She grabbed at her stomach and fell to her knees, immediately drawing the attention of the two men with her. She heard their voices, but she couldn't make out the words. Her brain seemed to fill up with fog and then she couldn't see. Gamora blinked a few times, trying to clear it all out, and when she finally reopened, there was no more orange sky.

The ground beneath her was rough, but not like the sand that had surrounded their every corner in the stone. It was grass, yellowed and dry, but it was grass. The sky about her was blue and clear with only a few clouds in the sky, and she was certain she died and went to Heaven. Next thing a face popped in her vision above, and she started crying. Peter leaned down and cautiously grabbed her hand, in disbelief that she was there as well. As soon as their fingers touched, he pulled her up into a sitting position and he dropped to the ground, hugging her.

The other Guardians were talking softly, and they didn't even notice when Gamora came through the stone. Rocket had his arms around Groot when the tree sudden turned around, eyes lighting up in exclamation when he saw the girl.

"I am Groot!" He practically shrieked, for as much as a tree could shriek, and slid under Rocket's arm to sprint to Gamora. Groot barreled over and jumped on top of the couple, which brought laughs out from everyone. Behind Groot the rest of the Guardians eagerly followed, everyone dropping down to sit in a big group hug. They were back together again, and nothing was going to tear them apart.

Gamora was happy, she was surrounded by her family and she was safe. Whatever had happened in the stone, the same feeling in her stomach was back and slowly growing stronger, but she pushed it aside as after effects. She would be fine. Something was missing though. Gently pulling out of the hug, she answered everyone's question with vague responses, searching the crowd for the person she was missing. Yes, she felt fine. Yes, she would tell what happened, but just not right then. No there was no one else in the stone.

Suddenly her eyes rested on the very blue head she was looking for, and she excused herself. Nebula was standing over the body of Thanos, head bowed and hands clenched at her side. Gamora stood up and started the slow walk over to her, startled at her lack of breath and the fiery pain in her back. Again she played it off as symptoms of coming out of the stone. She technically died, so it was probably normal to feel that way.

"Nebula," she said with a simple smile, but her sister didn't look up to greet her. Gamora's smile dropped from her face and she moved to put her hand on Nebula's shoulder. Her arms were surprisingly tired, but she made it up there anyway, and Nebula finally looked at Gamora with tears in her eyes. She opened her mouth to form words but no sound came out, and she was stuck there standing, tears that she didn't know could come out streaking down her face. Gamora gave a sympathetic smile with her own tears running down her face and pulled Nebula into a hug. Nebula stiffened at first, but melted into the comforting embrace and let herself truly for the first time, have emotions.

Not far behind Gamora coming out, Heimdall felt the same feelings and soon found himself on the grass of Earth. He was elated as he felt himself being pulled up. Thor was grabbing his wrists and pulling him into a hug before Heimdall could even see it happening, and Heimdall welcomed it. He cringed when there was a sudden stabbing pain in his heart that almost made his knees buckled, but he shrugged it off when Thor asked him about it.

Thor was overjoyed to see his friend again, but there was one question in the front of his mind, begging to be let out. Thor almost felt bad for wanting to ask about Loki while his friend just came back as well, but he couldn't help it. Opening his mouth, Heimdall seemed to know what he was about to ask and Heimdall pointed towards the haze.

Thor kept his grip tight around Stormbreaker, knuckles white against the wooden handle. When a figure pulled through the haze and Thor recognized the face he thought he would never see again, he dropped his hammer and ran forward. Thor sprinted into Loki, tears spilling down his face and nearly picked up his younger brother. For once, Loki did not pull away from Thor's touch but instead pulled into the hug, sighing for the familiar comfort. There was an uncomfortable pain in the back of his neck, but he ignored it.

With the last three heroes out, Wanda spent one more minute inside of the stone. She projected an image of herself back inside while her physical body stayed on Earth. Inside the stone, the copy of her was scanning over the orange sand, looking for one last specific person. She doubted he would be in there, the only time seeing him she was convinced was a hallucination. She almost left, but off in the distance she saw a bright blue blur run across the sand, and her heart fluttered.

Pietro was running, closer and closer till he stopped right in front of her image. She needed to ask. Her image grabbed Pietro's permanently bloodstained hands and held them and asked the question in the language they knew best.

"Can you come back?" With a silent sigh and a shake of his head, Pietro mouthed the word

'No', and pulled in for a final hug. Wanda soaked it in, trying to hold on for as long as possible before he pulled away and planted a soft kiss on her head.

Before he ran for the last time, Pietro mouthed the words, 'I love you'.

As soon as he ran off into the never-ending orange sand and orange sky, Wanda let out a scream and used the last energy she had to break apart the stone even further. She broke it and broke it again until the soul stone was reduced to nothing but dust. As soon as she finished, she collapsed to the ground. She felt gentle hands on her body, helping her up and moving her from outside, but she was too tired to care. Everyone was safe, everyone was safe.

Thor would not let Loki out of the hug, but he was getting to the point he was squeezing too hard that Loki could barely breathe. When Thor finally let go, Loki took in a deep breath but found that barely any air came back in. The pain in his neck tripled, becoming nearly unbearable and breathing was getting harder and harder. Nevertheless, he pushed through the pain and shot a smile at Thor.

"See, I told you, Brother. The sun would shine-" Loki's words were cut off when he couldn't get in any air at all.

"Loki?" Thor asked tentatively, instantly growing concerned. The pain in the back of Loki's neck brought black spots to his eyes and he couldn't breathe, couldn't breathe, couldn't breathe. He fell to his knee and then on his back, eyes rolling back into his head when he passed out from lack of oxygen. Thor called over Dr. Strange right as Loki's face and lips started to turn a slight shade of blue, and not from the fact he was a frost giant.

Right beside Thor, Heimdall's hands raced to his throat and his heart felt like it was getting stabbed. Looking down at his chest, he felt as blood started pouring out of a wound right at his heart and he fell to the ground right beside Loki.

"Gamora!" With a cry from Star-Lord, Gamora back pain became too great and she fell to the ground, clawing at her stomach and not getting enough air in her lungs. She choked, and grabbed at Peter's collar, trying to bring him closer, trying to get him to help. Peter did know what to do, and suddenly Gamora's hand lost its grip from his collar and her eyes rolled back, body going limp.


	37. Chapter 37

**Hey, guys so I actually re-wrote this chapter because I didn't like the one I posted first, so this has the same gist, just better writing. After this we have one last chapter, so we're almost done!**

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"No, no, no, no," Quill whispered harshly under his breath and dropped Gamora's wrist. Tears pricked his eyes when he couldn't find a pulse, and his chest tightened when he put his hand under her nose to check for air. There was nothing. No breath, no pulse of a heart beating. She was dead.

"C' mon, don't do this to me," Quill cried, moving his hand out from over her face to her chest, pushing down and started chest compressions. He remembered learning it, but not exactly from who. It must've been on Earth, shown with vague memories of someone showing him how to hold his hands and where to put them. He started pressing down in the compressions, Stayin' Alive playing in his head. Each beat of the song was a compression, a really easy trick to remember. Something in the back of his head whispered doubts that it would even work. She was Zehoberei, not human. They had a different structure than humans, but as far as Quill knew, there was only one anatomical difference, and it wouldn't affect any of them.

"Doc!" Quill practically screamed, before pinching her nose and tilting her head back and breathing for her. This wasn't like any kiss they've shared before, this was the kiss of life, and it wasn't working. Quill shouted for Strange a second time and started more CPR before he looked over his shoulder to see Strange just as occupied. He was pressing onto the bleeding chest of another fallen man, and Thor was following Strange's direction and doing CPR on Loki as well.

"Give me a second, Quill," Strange muttered under his breath. He heard the other man's cries and he saw that Gamora was stuck in the same situation, but he was a little preoccupied.

"Banner, I need you down here!" Strange shouted, trying to stem the slowly decreasing blood flow. Which was another bad sign, beside the fact that was a gaping puncture hole in his heart? With the blood flow slowly decreasing, that meant the heart wasn't pumping anymore. It was really hard to get a heart to start beating again and paired with the amount of blood that had been lost, it was near impossible.

Someone had heard him call for Bruce and the resident Avenger's doctor came running over, a small bag of medical supplies that he had grabbed in the amount of time he had. "What happened?" Bruce was given no answer but immediately dropped and took over Strange's position over Heimdall. The gauze pads that he brought and used to press against the wound. Getting no progress Bruce grabbed a small knife and cut down the middle of Heimdall's shirt, getting a better look at the mess. He pressed down against the wound, similarly alarmed about the slowed rate of the blood and soaking up with clean gauze.

"Quill, keep doing CPR, I'll be there in a moment," Strange shouted as he sprinted from Heimdall to where Loki was laying. Strange pressed two fingers against the Asgardian's neck, not missing the intense bruising indented on the skin. Chokehold, or, by feeling around the back of Loki's neck where things seemed a little out of place, snapped.

"Keep doing compressions," Strange ordered Thor, quickly showing him what to do. Stephen ran a hand over his face, wiping sweat from his forehead as he ran over to Quill and Gamora. Nothing here was scientifically possible, so scientific methods like CPR weren't going to work. But he had to try something until he figured it out.

Strange dropped down to Gamora's side and ordered Quill to keep doing chest compressions while he checked out the rest of her. Quill had said what killed her, pushed off a cliff and she fell to her death. Bruising marred her body everywhere, but Strange was really at a loss.

"How'd this happen, Strange?" Quill asked desperately, not letting up from CPR. Strange was almost at the point to tell him to give up. They weren't dealing with regular injuries here. All three of them had _died_ , somehow managed to come out of the stone world for a few moments, until they died again. The soul stone was still a part of this, it was just up to Strange to figure it out.

Strange sat back and stared at the three bodies. Thoughts flew through his brain, offering scenario after scenario, but none of them seemed right. "I guess… it's possible that the transition from the Soul World back to Earth kept them alive for a small amount of time. Some of the stone's powers probably glitched when they came out of the stone, letting them 'live' for a certain period." As he spoke, Strange got more excited. He was going somewhere. While he pondered the moment, Quill broke through his thoughts.

"I don't need what's possible, Doc, I need something that's going to bring her back!" Strange was running out of ideas and time was running even faster. While the three bodies in front of them weren't necessarily human, nobody could last long without oxygen and blood flow before there was absolutely no hope of bribing them back. But at the same time, they weren't exactly dealing with the regular here. They had crossed the reality line long ago, and there was no turning back now.

Every idea he had didn't seem to have a plausible outcome, all except for one. He wouldn't even have considered the possibility of it had there not been very important lives at stake.

"Being them all here," Strange ordered, and out of the corner of his eye watched as the three bodies were lined up next to each other, shoulder to shoulder. He sprinted up to Captain Marvel, who was the only one powerful enough to truly hold the gauntlet and not be completely corrupted by its power. No regular person could hold an infinity stone without some magical aspect, and the wielder of the infinity gauntlet had thoughts implanted in their brains by the power, and they weren't exactly pleasant.

The gauntlet, paired with the power of all the stones minus one spoke even unspeakable stories, sharing secrets and thoughts with the person that came in contact with it. After he had come out of the stone, it finally cracking and Wanda's piers helping them all escape, he was told how Thanos died. When he looked at Nebula, he couldn't ignore the haunted look on her face. Even now, as he came to a running stop in front of Carol—who held the gauntlet tight in her grip—he could see the mental battle for control in the expressions of her face.

Stephen knew what he needed to do, as much as he didn't want to. With only a haphazard explanation of his plan to Carol, Strange took a breath and grabbed the gauntlet from her hands. Instantly, her face relaxed from the constant bombardment of her brain and she let out a sigh. But while she got quick relief, Strange got the same mental load she just had. Strange knew about the effects of holding nearly all the stones, but none of that knowledge prepared him for the complete end laughs of thoughts the poked and prodded at every corner of his brain.

Suddenly, he was thinking things that he never dared to bring up, and for half a second, he almost saw Thanos' reasoning and logic for wiping out half of humanity. He pushed that aside, not wanting to accidentally get rid of all the hard work they had been doing just because his mind decided to wander. However, it was dangerous to have that much power. He could control the universe with it. He would never be mocked, ridiculed, or laughed at. He would have all the power in the universe, and everyone would be under his control, with just one snap of his fingers.

To his horror, Strange snapped out of his thoughts and looked down to see his gloved hand aimed to make that fatal snap. He shook his head and forced the gauntlet's probing thoughts to the back of his mind, focusing on the mission. In a mix of awe and horror, the rest of the heroes took a step back as Stephen stalked to the bodies. He stood over them, gauntlet outstretched and eyes shining. He wasn't sure it was going to work, but he was going to try.

Strange had gotten his idea back when he first started learning about the time stone and its powers. It had confused him, there were too many variables unaccounted for, too many things that could go wrong. But he had immediately became intrigued when he started testing out the capabilities of the stone on the apple that had sat on the desk in front of him. The correct spells, hand movements, and concentration let him take the apple with the single bite travel forward in time. One bite became another, then another, until all that was left was the core, and then the core itself started to mold and grow grey. Leaving the apple there to rest for a moment, Strange changed the spells and the movements until he was going backward in time, bringing it not only back to the singular bite it had, but even further, to where it was a full apple.

The principle itself was mind-blowing, but after going head-on in a continuous time loop with Dormammu and fighting Thanos, Strange thought it was nothing more than a regular Tuesday afternoon. Except for the fact that this wasn't an apple he was trying on, it was people.

Everyone was behind him, except for Bruce. His hand hovered over Stephen's shoulder, not touching but letting him know that he was there. Strange needed to focus, but Bruce had one final question. "Are you sure this is going to work? Have you done it before?" Bruce asked worriedly. They were about to use the time stone to fix injuries and restart a still heart. Not something anyone had ever done before. Strange sighed, and Bruce knew the answer.

"Technically, yes. I've done it before," Bruce gave a half smile and stood back with the others as Strange finished his own sentence. "On a piece of fruit."

When he was ready, Strange kept his eyes shut and his face pulled tightly together. He shouted out the spells, getting louder and louder as the gauntlet glowed brighter. Slowly, the time stone shot out green energy, and with the same motion that put the apple back together, Strange started putting the people back together.

With Bruce standing as close as he could, the impossible seemed to happen. The sluggishly bleeding wound on Heimdall's chest started to close up from the front to the back, and the bruises around Loki's neck slowly started to fade away. One by one the injuries started to fade out from the dead heroes, and the rest of the living heroes held their breath. Strange didn't know how much longer he could hold on. His legs were turning to rubber and his arms shook with strain. Sweat dripped off his forehead, and he was so close. They were almost done: everyone was almost safe and they could go back to living as 'normal' lives as possible.

With three sharp gasps, Loki, Heimdall, and Gamora each took a breath and opened their eyes. Strange dropped his hand and let his eyes open, sweat and what could've been tears rolling down his cheek. It was over.

Strange was allowed a moment of reprieve, just a chance to see loved ones reunite and embrace. The bodies were healed and healthy, back to the condition there were before they died: just like the apple. However, the moment of the break was over almost as soon as it started. The gauntlet grabbed the reins and took control once again. Strange had used the time stone to bring them back, but he was sure there was influence from the other stones as well.

Fighting to keep the thoughts of world domination aside, Strange walked over to where Vision's broken body lay still, forehead crushed in and gray. Strange couldn't let him have the mind stone back, it was too powerful and too dangerous for him to have it out in the open like that. But Wanda's powers came from the stone even though she didn't have it with her, so couldn't he do the same thing? Strange took a breath and dove back into the mind of the gauntlet, using the time stone to return color and form to Vision's body, while some of the mind stone's powers to transfer memories and abilities that he had back to the android's brain.

When Vision started to move, Strange walked back out to the middle of the Wakandan field, with one final task. Nobody had enough control to actually wield the stones and keep a rational mind about them-even Strange could feel himself slipping down into the mind gutter. He argued against doing this earlier, but seeing hand first the destruction the stones were capable of there was no way all that power could wind up in some egomaniac's hands again.

The pounding in his head and ears grew louder as the stones seemed to know what he was about to do, and they tried to fight it. Suddenly he felt wind blowing and Carol touched the ground beside him. She placed her hands over the gauntlet, red and yellow plasma energy floating around her. With a final destructive thought, the infinity gauntlet with all the stones floated up off Strange's hand with the help from Carol's powers and exploded in a flash of blinding white.


	38. Epilogue

**Well, guys, I didn't exactly finish my goal by posting this final chapter before I saw Endgame, but here it is. I saw the movie last night and it was very good I enjoyed it very much, but I kept my original plan for this epilogue, so there should be no spoilers or anything. But this is it, guys. We made it! I can't even begin to thank every single one of you for coming along in this journey, this story alone took nearly a year to write. It was well worth it. Your guy's amazing support is what got me through this, and I could not be more grateful. So there may be one more chapter after this just to answer reviews and any questions you have, but I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I have written it. I do have one request, however. Being the last chapter, we are at 80 some reviews, and I would be overjoyed if we could get 100. Even if it's just saying hi or that you liked or didn't like the story, just take a few seconds and review, it would mean _the world_ to me.**

 ****Also, a side note, I have edited this chapter slightly because I totally forgot to add in a very special character. He is the reason all of this has happened, and I needed to pay tribute. Thank you, sir. _Excelsior!_ **

**REVIEWS:**

 **Hyraeth: Yeah it must have been a pretty weird experience...**

 **Guest: yep, that was a fun line to write!**

 **Verinorina: Yeah, pretty much ;)**

 **hermionegrangerfan2017: Well, I couldn't kill off _everybody_ , now could I?**

 **mfaerie32: Well I'm so glad you enjoyed it!**

 **Alright guys, one last time. I hope you enjoy the final chapter!**

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 _This is the fight of our lives._ The simple phrase had become so much for the reigning heroes. Life itself was at stake, and blood, sweat, and tears fighting for it. But it was over, they were finished.

Tony had one arm stretched out over the back of the couch, his feet propped up on an ottoman in front of him as he laid on the couch. He was in the main space of the Avengers Compound, the place he had created for the Avengers. Home. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of white that looked to be the hair of a person out the window to his left. He squinted to get a better look, but it had disappeared.

Two weeks after Thanos had come to Earth intending to wipe out half of humanity, things were finally starting to get back to a sense of normal. After watching three people who were supposedly dead up and walking around, the heroes had tried to make it back home. Vision had the last of his memories and personalities implanted back in him with the help of Shuri's machine that had worked on him earlier. Everyone had met back in the palace court, awaiting another attack. No one had really been sure that it was truly over. Tension buzzed around the room like an annoying fly that no one could find. Guards stood stock-still at entryways and windows, spears out ready for an attack. Eyes flicked around the room, wincing at even the slightest noise out of place, their nerves shot. When T'Challa had taken his seat on the throne, everyone seemed to calm down for a little bit. He took control, sending guards out to check on the citizens, making sure his people were alright.

The heroes made their farewells to the Wakandans, thanking them for the gracious use of the palace and co-operation during the fighting. Shuri had run up and given Peter Parker a big hug, holding her friend as tight as she could. They had only met a little bit before, but they felt like they knew each other for ages. With a tearful goodbye, Shuri made sure to give Parker a way to communicate with her and made him promise that he would call. After departing with the Wakandan king and royal family, the rest of the Avengers and the Guardians took up jets to fly back to rural New York.

Tony had made sure to get on the opposite plane from Steve, not ready to have another conversation. They had made progress, sure, but the bulk of it was under the stress of battle. Tony was scared the next time they saw each other he would say something he didn't mean and they would be back to square one. Steve didn't miss Tony's hesitation to go on the plane with him, and Steve wasn't sure he could blame him. When they accidentally made eye contact, Tony broke away first and rushed into the plane. Steve sighed, running a shaking hand through his hair. They had a lot of issues to work through, and it wasn't going to be easy.

Once in the air, the three planes flew in a V formation with FRIDAY in the lead and the two others angled behind them. Clint and Natasha piloted the other quinjet, while Peter Quill had found safety in his own ship. He would never admit it, but when he saw that Nebula had used his ship to not only bring them back safely but also without hurting his baby anymore, he almost cried. Again. Quill had slipped into the familiar seat, screaming _home_ , and automatically flipped the switched to start liftoff. He never even had to think about it. He never did. He just sat back and fell back into the familiar.

In the lead plane, Tony found himself nodding off in the pilot's seat, barely able to keep his eyes open. It was deathly silent in the jet, the heavy stress of the battle lifting off from shrugged shoulders and exhaustion starting to set in. The struggle for consciousness was a losing battle for most of the heroes, while others were wide awake with panicked breaths; waiting for another attack, another snap that would take half of them away. There was no in-between.

When all the planes touched down on the landing pad, the breath that nobody knew they were holding released. The heroes rushed inside, everyone heading for the same place. _Home_. There was a single collective thought, one that Wanda didn't even need to put in their heads: sleep. The exhausted heroes gathered in the common area, scrounging up whatever pillows, blankets, furniture they could find, even going with nothing at all, and sleeping.

 _Some people move on. But not us._ Finally, back in a safe place, the heroes and families slept for almost an entire day. While it was sleep, by no means was it a restful one. At least once every single hero woke up with tears in their eyes, sweat-soaked clothes and haunted minds.

Bucky had been the first to wake up. Too many memories, too many nightmares implanted in his head. Most of them weren't even his own. Years of being the Winter Soldier had led to years of horrible dreams. Being in Wakanda and staying out in the open, he has gotten his sense of being human back. He had gotten nightmares less and less until it was basically a bad memory. When he woke up in the Avengers Compound, all he could see was orange. There were no windows, it was open space. There was no tiled floor, it was all sand. The orange sand. Bright lights from the ceiling were white, but trapped in his own mind Bucky could see nothing else but that endless orange sun.

"Bucky." His name drew him back, and the nightmare slowly drifted back to real life. The orange sun was a single LED light swinging lightly from the ceiling. The floor was tile, and glass windows and walls made the room. In front of his vision, Steve slowly stepped over a body with his hands in front of him. Bucky's Winter Soldier mind took over, watching every movement with precise stares, assessing the threat.

"Buck, your okay." Steve stepped over a body. A dead body? Bucky saw flashes from the soul world and he shook his head to clear them. He watched the rise and fall of a thin chest. A sleeping body.

"Bucky, drop the knife." Bucky didn't even realize he was holding his weapon until he looked down to his metal arm, gripped tightly around the metal knife. He ignored the command and drew his lips back in a snarl when Steve stepped closer.

"Bucky, it's me. Steve." Somehow, Steve's name broke through the barriers, and the Soldier fell from his face. He was back to Bucky.

"Steve?" Bucky asked, voice breaking as he let the knife slip to the floor. It hit with an echoing clang, but none of the other sleeping figures were disturbed. Bucky stepped forward and Steve grabbed his arms, pulling him into a tight hug. Eventually, their legs started to give out and they sunk to the floor, not letting go of one another. For as long as they could, they could never let go of each other.

The rest of the heroes followed suit, waking up one by one by a with fear embracing their features, unable to fall back asleep without consolation from a loved one. The very last was Peter Parker, bolting up with a terrified scream. Tony had woken up instantly, running over to the kid who was rocking back and forth, knees pulled to his chest. His face was buried in his knees, shoulders shaking in quiet sobs.

"Kid," Tony said gently and reached out a gentle hand. As soon as Tony's hand touched Peter's shoulder, Peter moved liked lightning and wrapped his arms around Tony, sobbing into the older man's chest. Tony was surprised at first but slowly brought his arms down so he was holding the kid. Tony ran his hand through Peter's hair, whispering quiet things to him and slowly but surely Peter calmed down.

Tony didn't know how long he sat there holding Peter. The kid had experienced more than a kid his age ever should. He should be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, not the deadly space battles Spider-Man. Tony could help but think of the fact that the kid was only there because of him. Peter could've died, and Tony was the one who brought him along. But then Tony started thinking about it, and Peter _chose_ to come along. Tony told him to stay on the ground, to be safe, but Peter had clung to the outside of the ship, sealing his fate. Tony couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. His stupid, reckless, brave kid.

When Tony looked down again, Peter was fast asleep, still clinging to the man. Tony shifted to get in a more comfortable position, and Peter's grip tightened around him. "I'm here kid," he whispered gently.

"I'll always be here."

 _We've all lost._ They brought everyone back, so there were no funerals to attend. No digging out everyone's best suit or black dress from the depths of closets. There had been a great loss, but everyone was back. All except one.

Wanda was one of the first people to wake up after the group nap, and she couldn't get past the overwhelming sense of regret. She had found the quietest places she could be, up on top of the roof of the compound. Her arms were wrapped tightly, internal bruising causing limited pain, but it was manageable. However, she broke Dr. Banner's only rule to get to the roof: do not use her powers.

She had found the little safe haven when she was training with Natasha. She let emotions take control and she completely lost control, nearly breaking down a wall when she threw Natasha against it. Wanda had freaked out and tried to get as far away as possible, finding the quietest spot she could. Natasha had found her up there not too much later, and they talked through. After that, whenever she needed a space to be alone and just be able to think, she went there.

So while the sun shone brightly overhead, Wanda had flown up to the roof and sat with her legs dangling off the edge. The wind blew through her hair and the heat felt good on her face, warming her up. She just needed it to be quiet, where she could think.

Wanda didn't even know someone was behind her until Clint gently placed his hand on her back. She flinched and turned around, hands lighting up red looking for the threat. When her eyes met soft grey ones she let you an exasperated sigh.

"I could've hurt you, know you." Clint shrugged as she confessed, swinging his legs over the sides and letting them swing in the breeze. The stairway door had never opened, the master assassin had taken a special route, and walked across the graveled top without a sound, a trick he learned from Natasha.

"You can't hurt me," He said reassuringly to the young girl and Wanda laid her head on his shoulder. He brought his arm up and hooked it around her shoulders, rubbing soothing circles on her arm. Wanda opened her mouth to ask just for a quiet moment, but when Clint didn't push the conversation any further, she sunk back in a smile and just sat. Clint knew Wanda would talk when she was ready, and he wasn't going to push for it.

"I saw him," Wanda whispered quietly, a tear sneaking out of her eyes and trailing down her cheek. Clint gave her arm a comforting squeeze, letting her know that she was still there.

"When we were getting everyone out, I saw him," she spoke with a stronger voice, but in a different language. She knew Clint understood Russian, he had worked with a Russian spy for over half his life, so she spoke in the most familiar language. Natasha had been teaching her how to hide her accent to be a spy, but it was easier to revert to her native tongue.

"He had shown up a few times before, like when I was first in the stone. He was there, I could touch him, but it didn't feel real. He wouldn't talk to me, and all the… blood was still on him." She took a deep breath, staring out at the landscape before her, focusing on the way the birds flew over the treetops.

"He left, but when I was bringing people out of the stone Pietro came back again. He stood in the back, and he was the last one. I… asked him if he could come back. He said he couldn't." Wanda paused to keep from hyperventilating and continued. "Pietro was right there, all I had to do was grab and pull him out, but I did _nothing_." Clint nodded his head and continued to not speak. She would work it out, and if she needed him, she would ask. Just as he thought, Wanda continued on although this time was different. She had a sense of relief in her voice as she worked through the words.

"But… I don't think he was really there. I could touch him, but he couldn't speak, and the bloodstains were still there. After years, they would've like closed or something. I think… he was just there to help."

"Then you did the right thing," Clint's voice broke through and she looked up at him with a smile.

"Thanks, Clint."

"Anytime." They sat there in silence for a while longer, watching the birds as they tweeted and sang their songs, flying around in the air. A sudden realization dawned on her, and she stared at the older man in confusion.

"Wait, how did you get up here?" She had to use her power to get up to the roof of the straight walls of the compound, and there were no ladders to the top from the outside. "Did you…?" Clint let the question hang in the air, letting her think about the answers. He was a master assassin after all.

Back inside the compound, slowly heroes started to wake up. Some sat up, disoriented and confused, momentarily wondering where they were. Awareness came quickly after and relaxation set in. They were safe.

Peter Quill opened up his eyes with flash, and when he felt a weight pressed down on his chest, he clenched his fist to keep from jerking away. Calming his panicked breaths, the weight on his chest turned into a familiar head, long brown hair had twisted down into the red. Gamora was sleeping on his chest, her hand clutched tightly to his shirt. She mumbled slightly, and Quill ran a hand through her hair, before planting a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"Quill? Quill!" Gamora called out for him first, like she was looking for him, then it was urgent and frantic.

"Gamora, I'm here," Quill shushed her and she blinked until her eyes opened fully. She shut them again and exhaled. She was safe they were okay. Quill was about to say something else when he felt something else on his body. He lifted his head lightly and found the rest of the Guardians laying atop their leader. Nebula was holding onto Gamora's hand and her other was against Quill's shoulder. Rocket was curled up on Quill's other side, his furry head on Quill's outstretched arm, and Groot next to Rocket. The weirdest was Drax, whose arms were wrapped around Quill's legs at the ankles and drooling on his boots.

"Get… off!" Quill said harshly, shaking his legs and knocking Drax off. They all sat up and around, looking at Quill for answers.

"What are we going to do now?" Mantis asked, her unnaturally large eyes looking up at Quill. He sat there and thought. His ship was outside, they could get back inside and go to space, where they were from, or they could stay. Hang out with the Avengers a little while longer, stay in the compound for some good., natural sleep. With one look at the exhausted faces around him, Quill made his decision.

"We're going to stay here for a little while longer. Rest up, eat some good food, and then go back." By the content look on his team's faces, he made the right decision.

 _Whatever it takes_.

Hawkeye gathered up his wife in a rib-crushing hug, before planting a big kiss on her lips. Behind him, Cooper and Lila giggled, making disgusting noises behind their back. Clint used this as motivation and did it even more, before chasing after his kids with hands ready to tickle. They ran around the kitchen, where Clint and Laura were making breakfast with what was in the pantries. Soon the smell of pancakes and waffles drifted through the air, bringing hungry Avengers and heroes around with gurgling stomachs.

Clint sat down with his own plate of pancakes stacked high, drowned in syrup, but didn't touch his food. His forked danced around the plate, making patterns in the syrup.

"Clint?" Laura's gentle voice brought his attention up to her. She gave him a soft smile, an apron she found tied around her waist covered in flour and sugar. Her hair was pulled back to get out of her face. God, she was beautiful.

"Are you alright?" The simple question was anything but simple. Was he alright? Was he ever going to be alright? His entire family had died right in front of him. He had been a complete and awful wreck, with killing Thanos and bringing his family back were the only things on his mind. But they were back, and Thanos was dead. But Clint didn't know if he would ever truly be 'alright'. With a joyful shriek, Clint turned and saw Cooper throw a chunk of flour at Lila, who threw her hands in front of her face to try and stop it, but it was too late. The flour-coated her face and Cooper turned around mocking innocence. When he turned away, Lila grabbed a handful of flour and dumped it over Cooper's head. Nathaniel clapped his little hands and jumped in his seat. Laura went over to stop the mini food war before it escalated fully when she was attacked from behind. In the confusion, Natasha had grabbed her own flour from the counter and dropped it on Clint's wife. Laura froze in her spot and slowly started to turn around. Natasha never saw the grip of flour she had in her own hand before it was flung in the assassin's face.

Watching his family laugh and play in front of him was all he needed. Laughter from the rest of the group brought him back to reality, and he looked down at the plate of pancakes in front of him. Four little blueberries sat on top of his pancakes, and he picked them up with a smile. With the wicked aim, he threw each of the berries and hit the foreheads of his two kids, his wife, and his partner. Laughing, everyone else ganged up on him and tossed fist full of flour at him, coating him in white.

"Yeah," Clint said softly, wiping the flour from his face. "I'm alright."

 _Whatever it takes._

Natasha had taken a shower right after the breakfast, wiping off the dirt, blood and grim from battle, and whatever flour was left. In the shower, she let the burning water run over her, trying to rub away the memories. She scrubbed at her skin, harder and harder when the grime wouldn't seem to come off. Natasha couldn't get it off, she couldn't get it off. Her skin was rubbed raw when she finally broke down in tears. She sat on the floor of the shower, head buried in her knees as the water ran over her face. She bit back a muffled scream, biting her fist.

Natasha couldn't get over the fact. They could've lost so much. Something in her mind told her that it was fine, she needed to get over it, they won. Natasha was an emotionless killer, and especially during missions, there was no room for tears. But she had changed, being an Avenger, and she had a family know. To think that any of her family could've died…

When Natasha finally stepped out of the shower, she pulled on a loose shirt and a pair of sweatpants and stepped out. It was quiet, and she passed a few people in the hallways. One of those people was Bruce, his glasses sitting on top of his head and traditional lab coat sleeves rolled up past his elbows. He had been working non-stop since everyone came home, checking injuries and making sure everyone was alright. The two adults stopped in the hallway, staring at each other before Natasha broke the silence first.

"Bruce…" Bruce shook his head looking at the ground. He knew. She knew. What had happened between them was a one-time thing.

"I'm glad you're okay, Natasha." With that, they parted, Natasha back to her room and Bruce back to the lab.

 _Whatever it takes_.

Bruce took his supplies back to the lab, where the last of his patients were getting checked up. He buried himself into his work, trying to take the Hulk out of his mind. They had a complicated relationship. There was a delicate balance that more often than not tipped to one side. The scale had screwed up completely when the Hulk had been fighting for two years straight, so when they had fought Thanos for the first time, Hulk refused to come out at all. It had taken lots of coaxing and finally the thought of revenge for Hulk to come out and fight Thanos.

Now he was back at Bruce, and he was barely able to keep the Hulk in the back of his mind. He took the blood pressure of Loki as Thor stood anxiously at the side. He wasn't even sure the blood pressure cuffs would work, but he needed to keep moving. Graciously, Loki didn't take any jabs at Bruce and let him just work.

As Bruce moved onto his next person, he went over the possible outcomes. Either he would never figure out the perfect mix of Hulk and Banner, and he would be stuck with random outbursts or periods of time that one wouldn't come out at all. Or, maybe once, he would find that balance. He could be the man and also be the monster, without any fear.

That day wasn't coming anytime soon, but Bruce knew that when it did, he would have his family around him to help.

 _Whatever it takes_.

Thor helped Loki off the Midgardian medical table, and they walked the hallways of the compound. Neither of them really spoke, but the presence of them spoke volumes. Thor could feel Loki's discomfort in the compound, getting sideways glances from most of the heroes. Thor really couldn't blame them. But he kept his head high and moved Loki along, telling him to forget about it. Loki had gone farther than Thor had ever expected him too. He had become so much more than the little brother he knew long ago.

Nearing the front of the compound, the brothers stopped and stared out of the tall glass windows. Thor wrapped his arm around Loki's shoulders, and for once, the younger brother didn't pull away. Suddenly, the sun peeked out over the trees and through the windows, lighting up the two brothers.

Loki opened his mouth to say something but shut it when he looked over to see tears rolling down Thor's cheeks. He didn't even need to say it, Thor knew exactly what it meant. Without knowing, Loki started to cry as well.

 _Whatever it takes_.

Steve saw as Thor was standing with his brother at the window and couldn't help but smile. He had just talked with Tony, and everything was alright. Steve could feel the hesitation as he sat down with Tony, but it easily was broke down with apologies from both sides. All was forgiven and forgotten. Now, he was just bringing back a plate of pancakes to Bucky, who was getting extra sleep in an actual bed. Steve put the plates down on the counter next to the bed, getting one more glance of his best friend as he walked out of the room and shut the door behind them.

They had been through so much together. With a sudden overwhelming emotion, Steve choked back and sob and slid down to the floor. He pressed the back of his head to the door, thinking the harder he pressed the farther away everything would go. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair.

Steve wanted to fight in the war, he didn't ask for everything else that came with it. He never asked for his best friend to 'die', have his memories ripped from him and forget he existed. He never asked to be put under the ice for decades. He never asked for the love of his life to have an entire life without him. He didn't ask for Thanos to come and rip everything he had just gotten back from him. He just wanted to fight a war. War was simple. Wasn't it?

On the other side of the door, Bucky was awake. He had heard Steve come in, and for reasons unknown to him, he pretended he was asleep. He had stayed that way until Steve shut the door behind him. When Bucky heard Steve's cries from the other side of the door, he got up and reached for the handle. He stopped and pulled back for the same unknown reason. What was it? Bucky couldn't think clearly, so he sat down with his back pressed up against the door.

The men who had been through thick and thin sat on opposite sides of the door, tears falling. Without words and without moving, both of them felt a little better, knowing that they were just on the other side of the door.

 _Whatever it takes._

Tony wasn't really paying attention to the TV that flicked through random shows in front of him. It was mostly static anyway. He was more focused on the people around him. They walked past the common room, in quiet conversations or groups. Tony liked to people watch, and his family around him was the most interesting. Rhodey walked past at one point, flashing Tony a smile before walking to the labs. Tony could never get rid of the lingering guilt that he was the reason that Rhodey would never walk on his own again.

Tony had the guilt for a lot of things. More than he could count, really. He couldn't help but feel that this whole thing was his fault. And more often than not, he had someone around him to help him through that feeling, letting him know what actually happened. It was a system, and it always came around just when he needed it. A hand on his shoulder made him lean his head backward until he was looking at Pepper almost upside down.

"Hey," Tony said softly, and Pepper leaned down to give him a kiss. His favorite people in the world were there with him, and he could ask for nothing more.

"Hey yourself," Pepper replied automatically. She looked down at smiled. "How is he?" Tony followed her gaze to the small body leaning up against Tony. Peter hadn't let go of Tony since they got back, and Tony couldn't blame him. So when Tony laid on the couch to catch a quick break, Peter had crawled up beside him and fell asleep. Tony had finished his break long ago, but he didn't dare disrupt Peter's sleep.

"May came by not too long ago, and I'm going to bring him back there a little later. But he's doing alright."

"Good." Pepper gave him another kiss, giving one on the top of Peter's head as well, before walking off.

Tony sighed contently, staring at the ceiling above him. The same flash of white caught his eye once again, and he stared out the window. A man was standing outside, staring at him through the window. In a single motion, the man with white hair and glasses framing his face lifted his hand in a wave to Tony. Tony didn't know him, but something about him was so familiar. Tony couldn't help but feel like he had met him before. Names popped in his head, trying to find the right one. _Stan!_ Tony remembered running into him a few times, but why he was standing outside the compound was a more pressing question. Suddenly, he had the overwhelming urge to say two simple words. Thank you. The man outside the window smiled and nodded, almost like he heard Tony, and turned to walk away. Tony watched the man's retreating back, and when he blinked the man was gone. He didn't understand what had just happened, but he felt a certain sense of peace. As soon looked back to the compound, the rooms around him flickered with life and movement. It was a slow transition back into normalcy, but they would get through it. As a team, just like always.

It would take a bit to find the balance of normal life again, but they would find it. Whatever it takes. Tony shot the sky an ironic smile. They would be balanced again.

 _Perfectly balanced._

* * *

 **That's it! I hope you enjoyed the story! And remember...**

 **Stay hilarious, be awesome, trust God, and love Avengers!**

 **-avengersashley**


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